When someone thinks about slavery, he automatically comes to the conclusion of the expected relationship between a slave and his master, the master treats his slave with cruelty and ignores the enslaves human nature. For most cases of bondage, this is primarily the foundation of the relationship, however sometimes it goes deeper than what is common. In Fifty Years in Chains by Charles Ball, there are many aspects of slavery illustrated throughout, but the most important is the dynamics of relationships between slaves and their owners. Since the relationship between these two figures is ultimately the same across the board, each relationship has its own characteristics that make it unique from the other. These characteristics can be anything. Instead of identifying the relationship with the direct owner of the slaves, we will start with that of the mistresses and the slaves. The mistress is the master's wife, who constantly resides on the estate. That said, he tends to know all the slaves on the plantation very well. He takes care of most of the slaves, keeping their health and happiness to the best of his ability. The mistress often comes between the master and the slave and prevents them from being innocently beaten. Charles Ball tells of a time in Maryland when his mistresses “were all good women,” particularly that of his wife, who he said was a lady of “the kindest and kindest feelings” (p. 48). This may not be the direct relationship between a slave owner and his slave, however the mistress is the owner's wife, and his wife can be expected to hold the same mindset and opinions regarding slavery. However, as Ball described, some of the mistresses he met were women who practically befriended the slaves and treated them with respect and fairness to the owner's ways. Sometimes for no reason and other times because of a certain act that the slave did. When a slave owner punishes his slaves he takes a few factors into account. He decides the severity of the crime, takes into account the effect it will have on himself and the effect it will have on his farm. No matter who the person is, male or female, the slave will truly pay for any crime committed. Different styles of punishment are described in Ball's account, from whipping with a "roasted and greased hickory gad" (p. 87) to whipping with a ten-foot long whip made of buckskin twisted together to form a firmness similar to a string, some tie their slaves. to a pole and others make them lie on the ground to proceed with the assigned whippings. When the owner looks at his farm, he realizes that he must place a limit on the amount of whippings one can receive before they are deemed unfit for work. Depending on the criminal, the owner could lose profits from his farm because he could be short of two of his best hands. However, sometimes the master forgets everything except the crime itself and applies the most severe and harmful punishment to teach his lesson through the means of direct revenge, most of the time the slave will even plead guilty but the master does not trust the words of the criminal. An example of this is when Ball pleads guilty to the young woman