Uncle Tom’s Cabin started the fabrication of what slavery was like in the 1850s. Not all masters were Simon Legree, a few were mentally messed up and took it out on their hapless slaves. The Negative images come from here and have only grown with TV and films going back to the days of silent film. The bad news is that too many people saw and were part of the so-called insurrection of Jan 6. It’s a useful fiction, but fiction none the less. They would like to make it a part of the historic memory, like the Holocaust with Museums, and stark B and W photographs. No, the truth will come out. Remember they tried to turn JFK into a plaster saint too—and it worked for a while—until we discovered he had feet of clay and was screwing anything in a skirt.
I am thinking that the vast majority of slaves, were like employees of the time. The owner had very little to do with tending to them. They had a responsibility, the slaves that is, and they did it or food was withheld. The worst whipped and beat people, likely other slaves or employees who were white and indentured to the Master. Massa” if you believe Kunta Kinte demon knights tale. People in general were chattel if they didn’t have family, wealth or land/property.