Majority of the people that made Arkansas their home state were previously born in slave states. The rivers in Arkansas provided great access to Arkansas for trade and political influence in the state. Arkansas farmers were able to flourish with many different crops of corn, oats, wheat, potatoes, peas, beans, hops, tobacco and cotton. After Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin, the market for cotton grew in the south. The majority of the cotton was produced in the Delta region, with the need to produce more cotton brought the need for more slaves. During this time society measured a man’s status by the amount of land and slaves were owned (p163). The slaves were used to clear fields, plant, cultivate and pick their crops. They were used as the labor source for these plantations. Some of the slaves were provided food, housing and clothes although some owners were mean and not trustworthy. The relationship between the master and the slaves would vary depending on the owners. In Chicot County, on the Woodfork plantation the slaves were treated first class. The Union County slaves were whipped often. The black women were treated the same as the men and required to do the same work. The blacks scarred by the whips and they were marked with rebellion from their masters. The fear of being revealed as a “mean master” by mistreating of the slaves from their whippings. If the whips were not used they were often threatened with the use of the whip. Some slaves would run away to the north where the slaves were free but others would never leave the plantations by hiding out in the woods. The overseer’s job was the care and welfare of the slaves. Sometimes the blacks would overcome their overseer and kill him and sometimes the overseer would be fired for the brutality to the slaves. The overseer’s were expected to make sure the slaves were worked