Why were slave families separated?

Slave families were separated so that they could have no hope in the world. The masters would not want them to be hopeful because then they might try to rebel and try and escape. If they have no hope they'll just keep their head down and work until they die, and that's exactly what the master wants. This made the slaves feel less human, not knowing your family would make anyone feel like less than human, or that they don't belong. Masters had many tactics to keep slaves feeling hopeless, like how they don't tell them their birthdate. They would think that if they die, who would really care? For the masters this is what they want, they want the slave to be dreadful and not disobey orders and to feel like they're not human.