Life+of+Slaves+in+Antebellum+America

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====Slaves began heavy labor when they were quite young and continued to work throughout their whole lives until they died. Some slaves were artisans or craftspeople: blacksmiths, carpenters, or draftsmen, Some slaves were even working as butlers, maids, or cooks. But the majority of the slaves in the south worked in the fields. In cotton plantations, throughout the spring and summer the slaves were employed in hoeing and weeding the fields. For the hoeing and weeding, the slaves were separated into "gangs" under supervision of a white overseer. The hardest time of year was the harvest on a cotton plantation. This began in August or September and lasted until November or December. Picking cotton could be painful. Often, the prickly plant would cut their hands but they to keep picking. After picking all that cotton that day, the slaves had to bring the very heavy basket that weighed up to 200 pounds, to the gin house. The gin house is where the cotton was weighed and prepared for shipment. This is the back breaking work that slaves had to go through on Cotton Plantations. ==== ====Another type of plantation that slaves worked at was sugar Plantations mainly in Louisiana. Sugar, by some considered worse than cotton plantations. Sugarcane was a year round task. Between November and February, the slaves prepared the ground with plows under the direction of the overseer. Planting usually occurred in late February, early march, followed by hoeing, weeding, then harvest. Three slaves made their way down each row to cut the sugarcane, using a knife. Then more slaves would pile the cut stalks into a cart. From October to December, slaves labored hour after hour to bring the crop before it went bad and rotted. Thats the brutal and cruel work on a sugar plantation. ====


====If some slaves weren't at the cotton or sugar plantation, they were at the rice plantations. At a rice plantation, the slaves were ankle deep in oozy water and mud wile being exposed to the burning sun. The slaves on these plantations were exposed to disease such as malaria. How the slaves planted the rice seed was by wedging a little hole in the mud of the bottom of the river with their toe, plant the seed, then close the hole they put the seed in with their heal. So the basic planting routine was toe, plant, heel. They worked very long hours and were in danger of snakes biting them and different types of disease. ====  ====One plant they harvested was called hemp. At the end of the summer, hemp would grow to be about ten to twelve feet tall. So when the hemp was finished growing, slaves would cut the tall stocks down with thick knives and peel off the green leaves. Then they would hang the stocks by the root until the outer layer rotted. Then they would take the insides out and make rope or twine (string).When it came time for planting, the owners had no problem trying to get slaves to work in the hemp fields especially at harvest time. Sometimes the owners had to say no to the slaves because too many slaves volunteered to work in the hemp fields. Slaves volunteered to work in the hemp field because hemp was a medicine. At harvest time, the slaves would take some hemp and when they got sick, or if they were sick, they would use it to get better. ====

A field slave worked from sunrise to sunset, but during harvest, they worked an eighteen-hour day. Women field workers had the same hours of men even if they were pregnant, they were expected to work until the child was born. Right after the child was born she was forced back to the fields to work the long hours. The field workers had to live in a tiny shack with a dirt floor. These homes were very weak and did shelter the slaves very well. There was no protection to cold winters and windy nights. Slaves slept on rough blankets inside the hut. On Saturday nights slaves from different plantations usually came together to have a meeting. In cotton plantations, the slaves got in line to get their cotton weighed and received their food. The minimum was 200 lbs of cotton that had to be picked every day. At about age 12 the overseer expected the same production of work out of the child as a grown adult. The slaves were allowed to take the sunday off. The field slaves were more in jeopardy of catching disease, but their lives could be better than a house slave.

Most house slaves were treated better than field slaves. House slaves cleaned, cooked, served meals, and took care of the children. Some house slaves lived in attics, closets, or corners in the big house even if their families lived in the quarters. A cook's day was long and hard. A cook got up early in the morning to cook breakfast, and the day ended with cleaning up after dinner and gathering firewood for the next day. Sometimes slaves stole food and water from the owner to give to their fellow slaves. House slaves had a better chance to read and write. Sometimes they listened in on their owner's conversations so they could warn field slaves of important things or if they were being sold. House slaves did many other things such as: waited on tables, washed, ironed, took up and put down carpets, hauled the large steaming pots for the preservation of fruits, lifted the barrels with cucumbers soaking in brine, opened up the barrels of flour, swept floors, dusted furniture, hoed and weeded gardens, and collected the chicken eggs. They also took care of the children allowing the lady of the house to do anything she wanted to do. Even though though house slaves did have more privileges, their life could be just as hard as a field slave.jb

Treatment of Slaves

Slave owners treated their slaves like cattle. They were underfed, had little or no medical help and were punished by their owners. The owner could hurt any slave for any reason, even if there wasn't a reason. Slaves were subjected to torture, whippings, brandings and beatings. Slaves had to endure long, hard days in the fields and hot sun. Disease was common in the fields. Slaves were sold to other plantations and family ties were ignored by the owner. Often, selling a family member was used as a theart. House slaves were treated a little better than field slaves. They often lived in the owner's house, and had better living conditions. They sometimes stole food to give to the field slaves. They still were whipped and beaten. -Neal Brethauer