This paternalism of the post-Revolution South proved to be a period of great improvement for the living and working conditions of slaves. On page 112, Kolchin gives us an excerpt from a letter PC Weston wrote to his overseer: "his first object is to be...the care and welfare of the negroes." [The owner]…can never excuse any cruelty, severity or lack of care towards negroes. Since America had an abundance of fertile land, feeding slaves a balanced and nutritional diet was an easy task, and failure to do so "[was] considered the most aggravated development of wickedness" (Kolchin, 113). While housing and clothing were basic at best, medical care was exceptional compared to the average for Southern whites (Kolchin, 114). Still stemming from the Second Great Awakening, masters also often read the Bible to their slaves and encouraged them to attend religious services (Kolchin,