David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

significant number of slaves lied,
cheated, stole, feigned illness, loafed,
pretended to misunderstand the
orders they were given, put rocks in
the bottom of their cotton baskets in
order to meet their quota, broke their
tools, burned their masters’ property,
mutilated themselves in order to
escape work, took indifferent care of
the crops they were cultivating, and
mistreated the livestock placed in
their care to the extent that masters
often felt it necessary to use the less
efficient mules rather than horses
since the former could better
withstand the brutal treatment of the
slaves.