slavery_slavelife

Student Questions -

What was slave life like during the antebellum period? The masters slaves were considered property and masters made sure that the slaves did not forget that. It was equality. What were the circumstances and roles of the slaves?  The job that the slave was to do was determined my their "master." Sometimes it would be in the fields, or whatever plantation the owner happened to have. Also, the slaves could be sent to work in their masters house. They could either be cooking, cleaning, or sometimes even babysitting. The slave children, (as well as the adults,) could end up becoming friends with their masters, or the masters children.  ~Laura  The slaves had two roles. The house slaves and the field slaves. The house slaves were slaves that worked in or very close to "the big house". Field slaves were slaves that worked in the field and this was a more difficult task. Pregnant women had to work even when they were very far along in their pregnancy. The work was hard and there was a high child mortality rate. How did the slave auctions and plantations work? Slave auctions worked by when the slaves arrived here on their ships they were put into pens. The auctioneer would pick a slave and let the buyers examine the slave. The auctioneer would choose the price and he bidding would begin. After slaves were sold the buyers would be given tickets and allowed to get their slave. Then they would go back to the auctioneer and check to make sure they have the right slave. Plantations were one of the worst places to be. There were no beds given to the slaves, unless one coarse blanket be considered such, and no one except men and women had these. They find less difficulty from the want of beds, than from the want of time to sleep; for when their day's work in the field is done, the most of them having their washing mending, and cooking to do, and having few or none of the ordinary facilities fror doing either of these, very many of their sleeping hours consumed in preparing for the field the coming day; and when this is done, old and young, male and female, marred and single, drop down side by side on a common bed.

 How many slaves were on one plantation? Check out Graphic 8 on this website - http://middle.usm.k12.wi.us/faculty/taft/Unit3/slaverystatistics.htm Almost one-third of all Southern families owned slaves. In Mississippi and South Carolina it approached one half. There were about 385,000 slave owners in total.  What percent of slaves made up the southern population? During the first decade of the nineteenth century, the number of slaves in the United States rose by 33 percent; during the following decade, the slave population grew another 29 percent . Did only the wealthy people own slaves? Of course wealthy people owned slaves, some presidents of the United States owned some. This was before 1877 when Ulysses S. Grant was the last president to own slaves. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, James K Polk, Zack Taylor and a couple more. Though, Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison did not own the slaves during the term as President. Were (slave) children under the age of 12 forced to do any work? Childern between the ages of 6-10 often worked as a water carrier. Kids between the ages of 10-12 normally were organized into gangs to weed. Children that were under 5 were hired out as domestics.  Did the slaves get any food, or did they have to make it themselves? Most owners gave a peck of corn meal and three to four pounds of salt pork or bacon each week to a person. The slave's food could be completed by vegetables from their gardens, by fish or wild game, and molasses (although not usually). The slaves made their own food and took it out to the field in buckets. With the lack of variety and vitamins slaves often got nutrition related diseases.  How would families take care of young ones if they were working the fields? Women with children had the extra burden of carrying their children on their backs as they worked in the fields. However, children were frequently taken from their mother before they were twelve months old and given to an older woman who couldn't work in the fields anymore. Also, the slave mothers would often carry their young babies on their backs. If their children were old enough to walk and work, they would work in the fields, house, etc. Green is by Laura Children from both families, slave and master, played when together until they were old enough to under stand that the whites were the owners and the slaves were the "thing" that was owned. <span style="color: #010000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Where was the area with the least amount of slavery? <span style="color: #b30505; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">As you can see most of the Midwest and the north east did not have slavery and most of the southern states have at least 40%slavery. As for the border states, or the states in between the north and south such as Kentucky, have about 20%-30% of slaves.This map takes place in 1860.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/United_States_Slavery_Map_1860.jpg <span style="color: #010000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">If you were a very good slave, would you work in the actual plantation owner's house?

Woman on Butler Plantation The women worked in the house. They also looked after a sick wife or bring a son a glass of water at 12 o'clock or 1 o'clock in the morning. Women were the ones to work as cooks and were nannies as well as clean the house. The men in the house drove the master to town or went to town to pick up something. Children were also the ones to work in the house and did simple tasks. <span style="color: #010000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">How would they compensate if a slave died?

<span style="color: #010000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Did some of the white owners ever pay their slaves? Some owners did pay their slaves when they sold them or even when they were still in their service. Some slaves earned enough money to buy their own freedom or in other words buy themselves. <span style="color: #010000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What kinds of punishments were administered for slaves who did really bad stuff? <span style="color: #9218dc; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Punishments tended to be cruel not only physical but mentally and sexually. The owner maintained the element of slave misery, by controlling the degree of pain of the punishments. Many punishments consisted of mutilation, branding, chaining, and murder. The whipings, beatings, drownings, and hangings were unpredictable and cruel. When the slaves were whipped it was often fifteen to twenty lashes, but they could range much higher. Other punishment included items such as stocks, chains, collars, and irons. Slaves were also hanged or burned at the stake. All of the women could be raped by the any white male including their master or any of his sons. <span style="color: #e410f4; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> In a case called Missouri vs. Ceila, Ceila is hanged because she murdered her master. She says it she was defending her self. A doctor, Dr. Martin, was questioned by her lawyer, Mr. Jameson Hoping to suggest that Celia could not possibly have committed the murder alone, Jameson Dr. Martin how a young, sick, pregnant woman could have managed such an act alone of burining a body, which how is was disposed, could commit the crime. Even though it was a good point and question the prosecution objects. The question is struck from the records.

<span style="color: #010000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What was the earliest age at which a child born into slavery would start working on the plantation? <span style="color: #010000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">What did the woman do with their babies while they were working in the fields? Women carried children on their backs as they worked in the fields. [|http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22256/22256-h/images/image001.jpg][|http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22256/22256-h/images/image001.jpg] Click on slavecabin to see a sweet picture! The picture is from the URL above. Picture of slaves outside of their house. These shacks were blistering hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. They had dirt floors and disease was likely to infect residents. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2956.html - This website is very good. IT is the same website that Mr. Taft used for one of our readings. Good info and reliable. <span style="color: #f20efb; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/education/index.html <span style="color: #d90bea; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">- This website is a PBS website and has great info on antebellum slavery. This site is full of antebellum historical goodies - Julie <span style="color: #f20efb; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">t <span style="color: #171bd3; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> http://cghs.dadeschools.net/slavery/antebellum_slavery/non_plantation_slave_life/labor.htm <span style="color: #cb159a; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">- <span style="color: #d90bea; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">This is a website that has all the info for the antebellum slave life. Use this to find the answer to all of the questions- Juliet http://cghs.dadeschools.net/slavery/antebellum_slavery/plantation_slave_life/health.htm It is a very informative website and all of the information is on antebellum slave life which is very helpful! :) Great site loaded with information but short enough to read it all!

http://cghs.dade.k12.fl.us/slavery/antebellum_slavery/plantation_slave_life/health.htm This is a site that gives a sort of broad, but general idea of what life was like for the slaves. It tells what they wore, what they ate, where they lived and other interesting things. It also briefly describes the punishments given when slaves misbehaved. ~Laura H

[|http://www.nas.com/~lopresti/ps.htm] This is a very helpful site that contains a detailed list of which presidents before 1877 that had slaves. Not just this but it also gives a descripition of how they owned the slaves and what they did in their term/s as president. -Joey Judge

 http://www.historyonthenet.com/Slave_Trade/slave_auction.htm This site explains how the common slave was prepared and sold to different people. It has a detailed explanation of the process of preparing a slave to be sold. Fady

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASchildhood.htm - This website has very useful information that talks about what happens to a slave child after they are born and when they typically begin to work. -- Billy L

[|http://slaveryinamerica.org/ history/hs_ES_overview.htm]

[|http://americanabolitionist. liberalarts.iupui.edu/ plantation_life.htm] This website has a very vivid description that is retold from the point of view of a past slave. He recounts how poor plantation life was and the site gives numerous pictures depicting slaves during their daily activity. Joey Judge

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/collections/voices/vfssp.html#FountainHughes.html This website has many interviews with former slaves from right before the civil war. In their interviews, they describe what life was life as a slave. It is a primary resource, and it offers valuable information about how it was to be a slave. ~Laura H

http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_overview.htm - This site has an assortment of information that includes the beginning of slavery and how families survived and escaped slavery, and how the slaves created their own cultures and practiced their religion in order to get through slavery. -- Billy L

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