this is a serious question for history buffs.  I wish I kept better track of my old e-mails....
A couple years back I got a long e-mail from someone (cant remember who).
It started out "this is a letter that was sent from a rich southern plantation owner, to xxxx?"
It began with normal greetings then started outlining how a white plantation owner could redirect his slaves hatred back at each other instead of at him.  I remember it saying to separate the lighter blacks from the darker blacks and find ways of making them hate each other.  Make the people watching the slaves hate them, and make the slaves hate the people watching them.  It outlined how one person could control many by deceiving them and separating them.

Oh... my question!!
Anyone know where I can find this document?  

divided we are nothing, united we are everything.

A quick search of google [url]http://www.google.com/search?q=plantation+letter+slave+owner[/url]

returned this:
[url]http://www.daveyd.com/willlynch.html[/url]

I read that about 5 years ago, it's reaaly something the way most of then each had a sys. like that. Some would give more food to the bunch that would get the most work done.

Some of the "better" owners would even give some time off for faster workers.

You should read a the "The Girl with no Name the Ann loongfoot story,she talks about this same thing.