Religion Amongst the Slaves

By Meghan Williams

In the days of slavery, most African slaves lived their daily lives with the pagan notion that everything on earth was sacred. They had a head priest or spiritual guider within the group that usually practiced some form of Voodoo, Hoodoo, or witchcraft, to whom they would come to if any form of healing was necessary (spiritual or physical). Their Christian owners did not like this, and were quite successful at eradicating most of the pagan views that these slaves worshipped within the first generation of slaves.

Another form of religion amongst the slave community was known as the “invisible institutions.” These came about when slaves began congregating to worship the Christian way. One main way that these institutions (who were often supervised by whites) differed from their white counterparts was that these new spiritual leaders (they were not allowed to call these leaders “pastors” or “preachers” because that is what the whites were called), shouted the word of God without really knowing or reading the Bible. Both the spiritual leader and the congregation shouted with glee when hearing and learning about the Holy Spirit, which was an uncommon practice back then.

There were also slaves that refused to conform to the new ways of Christianity and who found ways to avoid these sermons. A lecture of the www.wfu.edu website stated, “Most African-Americans found their spiritual needs were best met in secret. They would gather in ‘hush arbors’ and ‘praying grounds.’ A pot would be turned over to hold in the noise, and in the safety of the wee hours or a secluded location, they could express themselves freely, and interpret their faith as they saw fit.”

Author Unknown. Lecture 12; The Religion of Slaves.          http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twelve.html. (Accessed November 14, 2010).

Regimentation and Rules

By Tiffany Hardman

Slaves had to follow very strict regiments and rules. They were considered “troublesome property.” The slaves were mostly powerless, outnumbered and outsourced with weapons. They were hunted by dogs when they ran away. Slaves were at the mercy of their owners but sought out ways to rebel against the rules. They sabotaged crops, they broke the hoes used for work, and they acted as if they couldn’t understand very simple instructions.

Whippings were the most common form of punishment when slaves broke their masters’ rules. They were often whipped very severely. Slaves would receive anywhere from 15 lashes to 100 lashes from whips. They were whipped until their blood dripped to the ground. They were whipped for various reasons, including running away, not keeping their curfew, family fights in the slave quarters and most commonly for “poor work.” Most slaves worked from sun up to sun down. Many were at the beck and call of their owners at any time.

Whippings usually caused welts, blisters, bruises and scarring. On a few occasions slaves were beaten to death. Whippings were not the only form of punishment; on some occasions slave owners would have dogs viciously attack, slaves were also jailed, and were sometimes even made to dress like women in order to humiliate them.

References

James L. Roark et al., eds., The American Promise A History of the United States 4^th Edition. (Bedford: St. Martin’s Press, 2009), http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/roark4e/player/pages/MainFrame.aspx?mode=OSG&page_id=2&UserType=PS (accessed November 10, 2010).

Plantation Economy

By Latasha Davis

By 1830 slavery was primarily located in the South, where it existed in many different forms. African Americans were enslaved on small farms, large plantations, in cities and towns, inside homes, out in the fields, and in industry and transportation. In the lower South the majority of slaves lived and worked on cotton plantations. Most of these plantations had fifty or fewer slaves, although the largest plantations have several hundred. Cotton was by far the leading cash crop, but slaves also raised rice, corn, sugarcane, and tobacco. Many plantations raised several different kinds of crops.

          Besides planting and harvesting, there were numerous other types of labor required on plantations and farms. Enslaved people had to clear new land, dig ditches, cut and haul wood, slaughter livestock, and make repairs to buildings and tools. In many instances, they worked as mechanics, blacksmiths, drivers, carpenters, and in other skilled trades. Black women carried the additional burden of caring for their families by cooking and taking care of the children, as well as spinning, weaving, and sewing.

           The cotton gin was a machine that could clean cotton quickly. Cotton growers began making a lot of money once they started using machines like the cotton gin. People bought more land to plant cotton. They also bought more slaves. Between 1820 and 1830, cotton production in the South doubled.

          By the 1850s, the North and South had developed into very different economies. The North had many small farms as well as large industrial and urban areas. The South was overwhelmingly agricultural, and by 1860, cotton made up two-thirds of the total exports of the United States. 

Resources:
 

Africans in America. People & Events, Conditions of antebellum slavery http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2956.html, 1830 – 1860

2005, Ballard & Tighe, Publishers, a division of Educational IDEAS, Inc. From Explore America. http://www.ballard-tighe.com/eaweb/ExploreMore/EMB3Ch01.pdf

Women on the Plantation

By Brenda Miranda

The traditional role of a woman of African descent on a plantation would be “slave,” because from the moment she arrived on the plantation she was transformed from her own being into someone else’s property. These women were forced to leave their families, their children, their homes, and everything and anyone they held dear to them, and start this new horrendous life. From that moment on, these women had no rights, no freedom, no choice-- they had nothing.

They had to learn a whole new way of living: they had to learn a new language, learn a new culture and traditions, as well as learn about the native land they would be cultivating. These women also had learn to become submissive, as some had never been indentured before. Unfortunately, this often times included physical and sexual abuse at the hands of plantation masters. Their working conditions were awful and their workdays were long. It was not uncommon for male and female slaves to be housed together for the soul purpose of procreation of indentured children.

Resources:

1) A Plantation Mistress on the Eve of the Civil War: The Diary of Keziah Goodwyn Hopkins Brevard, 1860-1861 (Women's Diaries and Letters of the South) by Keziah Goodwyn Hopkins Brevard

2) Within the plantation household: Black and White women of the Old South -Elizabeth Fox-Genovese

Life in The Manor

By Michael Thomas

The everyday life within a plantation manor was anything but easy.  The dominant figure within the house was the husband, called the master, who controlled not only the slaves but his family.  One’s interpretation of marriage today is not the same as the married life on a plantation. Mistresses were held to stringent rules of a southern lady and were known to not live lives of leisure. They lost almost all of their property rights once married and were only allowed to leave the manor under the watchful eye of a chaperone. This caused most women to stay at home and become very lonely except for the few parties in which they had to do all the planning and supervising.  Masters, on the other hand, could come and go as they please.  Women had to manage all duties within the manor which included the slaves, and child-rearing with the help of a slave nanny.

            As for the children on the plantation, daughters were brought up to become southern ladies and were normally sent to boarding schools. They courted at an early age, some with sons of other plantations to bring the plantation families closer together.  Sons were brought up to manage the plantation. Also, there were times when masters had affairs with slave women.  The sons and daughters from this miscegenation were regarded as property of the master.  He had the right to do with them as he deemed necessary, including selling them to another plantation owner.

REFERENCES

Roark, James L.,  Michael P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, Sarah Stage, Alan Lawson, Susan M.

     Hartmann, 4^th ed. 2009. The American Promise  e-Book with Reading the American Past.

     Bedford: St. Martin’s Press. http://ebooks.bfwpub.com/tap4v1.php/. (accessed November 08, 2010).

Family Life in the Slave Quarters and on the Plantation

By Claudia Kommajosyula

 

The life of families in the slave quarters was filled with many hardships and heartaches. According to Schwartz: “Slave holders thought of the men, women and children they held in bondage as property,” as well as interfere in slaves’ lives as they pleased. Adults as well as children from age ten or twelve worked hard from daylight until after dark for as many as seven days each week. Young boys and girls often worked as wait staff, cooks’ helpers or nursemaids in their owner’s home, and other young children were left alone in the slave quarters during the work day. Slave owners withheld food, blankets or clothing to enforce rules, and used beatings and whippings to discipline slaves. Families of slaves were often separated when family members were sold or traded by their owners. Slave families aimed to make their lives more bearable by gathering together at night or on Sundays, and in cooperating stories, song, riddles and musical instruments in their limited private time.

References

Schwartz, M. J., 2001. Family Life in the Slave Quarters: Survival Strategies.          November,09,2010, http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/family/schwartz.html

Group 8

Hello all! Welcome to our blog! Group 8 has the subject of plantation life. We will discuss life on the plantations of the 1800's and travel back in time to see what economically thrived back then, what life was like for plantation workers, as well as what factors (such as religion and organization amongst slaves) influenced their living. Stay tuned!