Who or what is the Overseer?

Historically speaking, an overseer was employed on a
plantation to keep slaves in line. He worked for the plantation owner, but whereas the
plantation owner would not get his "hands dirty," considered a "gentleman," the overseer
would make sure work was done and peace was maintained, and would dole out punishment as
needed.

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Punishment could be administered by the
plantation owner..., and most often by the overseer or driver. Slaves were punished with
a variety of objects and instruments. Some of these included: whips...Those who punished
slaves also used weapons such as knives, guns, field tools...The whip was the most
common instrument used against a
slave.

It was not unusual
that an overseer would use a whip, and though it could cause a great deal of physical
damage, it could also kill someone if he/she were beaten badly. Many plantation owners
believed that fear and terror were the only ways to motivate slaves to work, and they
used overseers to see this taken care of.

The presence and
"responsibilities" of overseers is recorded in slavery
literature:

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Thinly veiled acts of miscegenation and heroic
escapes from sadistic overseers appear in most slave narratives, along with the primary
antislavery message.

Some
overseers, ironically, whipped slaves while they quoted scriptures from the Bible,
somehow maintaining (in their minds) that slavery and beatings were condoned by
God.

Slave
narratives detail whippings by "Christian" overseers that are accompanied by recitations
of scripture. The biblical justification of slavery becomes the single most important
rhetorical argument upholding the bondage of an entire
race.