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Friday, June 1, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Horrors of Slavery
One of the ways some of the slaves received their freedom was through the American Revolution. They were rewarded freedom through their services in the war. Others tried to get their freedom by escaping away from the plantations. They had secret ways to escape. Many white folks secretly helped the slaves escape from their plantations. One of the famous ways the slaves tried to escape to freedom was through the Underground Railroad.The Underground Railroad was a network in which antislavery Northerners illegally helped fugitive slaves escape from the plantation owners. These Northerners would transport them to free states or Canada where there were antislavery laws before the Civil War. Their escape had to be during the night, so that they may not be seen, and they also looked for the North Star for guidance. About 50,000 slaves escaped through the Underground Railroad, but there is no exact number of how many slaves escaped because there were no records kept. Harriet Tubman was a woman who really contributed to the Underground Railroad.
Why Were Slaves Afraid to Escape?
Slaves could be afraid to escape, because once caught, they were subject to everything from whipping and other torture to being put to death. Also it can be because in a new world they did not know what to do, not knowing what was out there be.
Ways they Escaped
Henry "Box" Brown was born into slavery and escaped by mailing himself to freedom.
All slaves used different escape routes. Some slaves went north to the free states such as Illinois, Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylavina. While other´s ventured south to states like Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.
Harriet Tubman and Fredrick Douglass not olny escaped from slavery themselves, but aided in the escape of many other slaves.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
The Start
The Slaves
Some historians, notably Edmund Morgan, have suggested that indentured servants provided a model for slavery in 17th century Virginia. In theory, indentured servants sold their labor voluntarily for a period of years (typically four to seven), after which they would be freed with "freedom dues" of cash, clothing, tools, and/or land. In practice, indentured servitude was a violent system
; some English men and women (felons and those who were kidnapped) were compelled to become indentured servants, and in the early 17th century, many indentured servants did not live long enough to be freed. The principal significance of indentured servitude, Morgan argues, is that it accustomed 17th century Virginia planters to use physical violence (including beating and rape) to compel workers to work. This set a precedent for the violence of African chattel slavery, which the British colonies first adopted on a large scale in the 1660s and 1670s. Until the early 1700s, African slaves were difficult to acquire in the colonies that became the United States, as most were sold in the West Indies. One of the first major establishments of African slavery in these colonies occurred with the founding of Charles Town and South Carolina in 1670. The colony was founded mainly by planters from the overpopulated sugar island colony of Barbados, who brought relatively large numbers of African slaves from that island. For several decades it was still difficult to acquire African slaves north of the Caribbean. To meet labor needs, colonists had practiced Indian slavery for some time. The Carolinians transformed the Indian slave trade during the late 1600s and early 1700s by treating slaves as a trade commodity to be exported, mainly to the West Indies. Alan Gallay estimates that between 1670 and 1715, between 24,000 and 51,000 Indian slaves were exported from South Carolina — much more than the number of Africans imported to the colonies of the future United States during the same period.
The first African slaves arrived in present day United States as part of the San Miguel de Gualdape colony (most likely located in the Winyah Bay area of present-day South Carolina), founded by Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón in 1526. The ill-fated colony was almost
immediately disrupted by a fight over leadership, during which the slaves revolted and fled the colony to seek refuge among local Native Americans. De'Ayllón and many of the colonists died shortly afterwards of an epidemic, and the colony was abandoned, leaving the escaped slaves behind on North American soil. In 1565, the colony of Saint Augustine in Florida became the first permanent European settlement in North America, and included an unknown number of African slaves. The first Africans to be brought to English North America landed in Virginia in 1619. These individuals appear to have been treated as indentured servants, and a significant number of African slaves even won their freedom through fulfilling a work contract or for converting to Christianity. A few successful free men of color, such as Anthony Johnson, acquired slaves or indentured servants themselves. To many historians, notably Edmund Morgan, this evidence suggests that racial attitudes were much more flexible in 17th century Virginia than they would subsequently become.
The meaning of slavery hardened in the second half of the 17th century, and imported Africans' prospects grew increasingly dim. During the second half of the 17th century, the British economy improved and the supply of British indentured servants declined, as poor Britons had better economic opportunities at home. At the same time, Bacon's Rebellion of 1676 led planters to worry about the prospective dangers of creating a large class of restless, landless, and relatively poor white men (most of them former indentured servants). Wealthy Virginia and Maryland planters began to buy slaves in preference to indentured servants during the 1660s and 1670s, and poorer planters followed suit by 1700. (Slaves cost more than servants, so initially only the wealthy could invest in slaves.) The first British colonists in Carolina introduced African slavery into the colony in 1670, the year the colony was founded, and slavery spread rapidly throughout the Southern colonies. Slaves might also be beaten to death and killed if they ran away. Northerners also purchased slaves, though on a much smaller scale. Northern slaves typically dwelled in towns and worked as artisans and artisans' assistants, sailors and longshoremen, and domestic servants.
Some historians, notably Edmund Morgan, have suggested that indentured servants provided a model for slavery in 17th century Virginia. In theory, indentured servants sold their labor voluntarily for a period of years (typically four to seven), after which they would be freed with "freedom dues" of cash, clothing, tools, and/or land. In practice, indentured servitude was a violent system
; some English men and women (felons and those who were kidnapped) were compelled to become indentured servants, and in the early 17th century, many indentured servants did not live long enough to be freed. The principal significance of indentured servitude, Morgan argues, is that it accustomed 17th century Virginia planters to use physical violence (including beating and rape) to compel workers to work. This set a precedent for the violence of African chattel slavery, which the British colonies first adopted on a large scale in the 1660s and 1670s. Until the early 1700s, African slaves were difficult to acquire in the colonies that became the United States, as most were sold in the West Indies. One of the first major establishments of African slavery in these colonies occurred with the founding of Charles Town and South Carolina in 1670. The colony was founded mainly by planters from the overpopulated sugar island colony of Barbados, who brought relatively large numbers of African slaves from that island. For several decades it was still difficult to acquire African slaves north of the Caribbean. To meet labor needs, colonists had practiced Indian slavery for some time. The Carolinians transformed the Indian slave trade during the late 1600s and early 1700s by treating slaves as a trade commodity to be exported, mainly to the West Indies. Alan Gallay estimates that between 1670 and 1715, between 24,000 and 51,000 Indian slaves were exported from South Carolina — much more than the number of Africans imported to the colonies of the future United States during the same period.The first African slaves arrived in present day United States as part of the San Miguel de Gualdape colony (most likely located in the Winyah Bay area of present-day South Carolina), founded by Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón in 1526. The ill-fated colony was almost
immediately disrupted by a fight over leadership, during which the slaves revolted and fled the colony to seek refuge among local Native Americans. De'Ayllón and many of the colonists died shortly afterwards of an epidemic, and the colony was abandoned, leaving the escaped slaves behind on North American soil. In 1565, the colony of Saint Augustine in Florida became the first permanent European settlement in North America, and included an unknown number of African slaves. The first Africans to be brought to English North America landed in Virginia in 1619. These individuals appear to have been treated as indentured servants, and a significant number of African slaves even won their freedom through fulfilling a work contract or for converting to Christianity. A few successful free men of color, such as Anthony Johnson, acquired slaves or indentured servants themselves. To many historians, notably Edmund Morgan, this evidence suggests that racial attitudes were much more flexible in 17th century Virginia than they would subsequently become.The meaning of slavery hardened in the second half of the 17th century, and imported Africans' prospects grew increasingly dim. During the second half of the 17th century, the British economy improved and the supply of British indentured servants declined, as poor Britons had better economic opportunities at home. At the same time, Bacon's Rebellion of 1676 led planters to worry about the prospective dangers of creating a large class of restless, landless, and relatively poor white men (most of them former indentured servants). Wealthy Virginia and Maryland planters began to buy slaves in preference to indentured servants during the 1660s and 1670s, and poorer planters followed suit by 1700. (Slaves cost more than servants, so initially only the wealthy could invest in slaves.) The first British colonists in Carolina introduced African slavery into the colony in 1670, the year the colony was founded, and slavery spread rapidly throughout the Southern colonies. Slaves might also be beaten to death and killed if they ran away. Northerners also purchased slaves, though on a much smaller scale. Northern slaves typically dwelled in towns and worked as artisans and artisans' assistants, sailors and longshoremen, and domestic servants.
Living Conditions
Africans sold as slaves in the Americas had to rely on their owners providing them with housing or building materials, pots and pans for cooking and eating, food and clothing. Many slaves did the best they could with what they were given. Most did not dare complain for fear of receiving a whipping or worse punishment.Houses
Slaves were allocated an area of the plantation for their living quarters. On some plantations the owners would provide the slaves with housing, on others the slaves had to build their own homes. Slaves that had to build their own houses tended to make them like the houses they had had in Africa and they all had thatched roofs. Living conditions were cramped with sometimes as many as ten people sharing a hut.
They had little in the way of furniture and their beds usually made of straw or old rags. Slaves who worked in the plantation house generally had slightly better housing nearer to the house and were given better food and clothing than those slaves that worked in the fields.
Food
Sometimes they were given pots and pans for cooking, but more often they had to make their own. The long hours they had to work in the fields meant that they had little free time for making things to improve their living conditions. Some slaves used a hollowed out pumpkin shell called a calabash, to cook their food in. Most plantation owners did not spend more money on food for their slaves than they had to and so the slaves lived on a diet of fatty meat and cornbread.
Clothing
Slaves would be given one pair of shoes and three items of underwear a year.Although these and other clothing would be provided by their owner, they were often ill-fitting and made of coarse material.
Free Time
Most slaves had to work from sunrise to sunset. Some owners made their slaves work every day, others allowed slaves one day a month off and some allowed their slaves to have Sundays as a rest-day. Slaves would spend their free time mending their huts, making pots and pans and relaxing. Some plantation owners allowed their slaves a small plot of land to grow things to supplement their diet. Slaves were not allowed to read or write, but some were allowed to go to church.
Slave Life
What would it be like to be owned by another person as anything else is owned? Slaves were owned by other people. To buy a slave was very costly just as something in a store might be. There are two types of slaves, field workers and house slaves or servants. Most people would think that being a house slave would be easier, but being on task at all times, or being a cook for a whole plantation was not easy.
Field Workers
Being a field slave was not at all easy. A field slave worked from sunrise to sunset, but during harvest, they worked an eighteen-hour day. A field worker was out in the field when the first sign of light shone until it was too dark to see. Women field workers worked the same hours as men. Pregnant women were expected to work until the child was born, and after the child's birth the woman worked in the field with the child on her back. Field workers lived in tiny huts with dirt for a floor. These small huts were no protection against the cold winter winds. Slaves slept on rough blankets inside the hut. On Saturday nights slaves from different plantations usually came together to have a meeting. After a day on a cotton plantation the slaves got in a line to have their cotton weighed and receive their daily food. The minimum amount of cotton to be picked in one day was 200 pounds. The field slaves were driven all day long by a white overseer with a whip. At about the age of twelve a child's work became almost the same as an adult's. Slaves got Sundays off and maybe parts of Saturday unless it was during harvest. On very hot days slaves might be given one to two hours off at midday. Slaves sometimes hunted and fished during their free time. A field worker's day was filled with hard
work.
Field Workers
Being a field slave was not at all easy. A field slave worked from sunrise to sunset, but during harvest, they worked an eighteen-hour day. A field worker was out in the field when the first sign of light shone until it was too dark to see. Women field workers worked the same hours as men. Pregnant women were expected to work until the child was born, and after the child's birth the woman worked in the field with the child on her back. Field workers lived in tiny huts with dirt for a floor. These small huts were no protection against the cold winter winds. Slaves slept on rough blankets inside the hut. On Saturday nights slaves from different plantations usually came together to have a meeting. After a day on a cotton plantation the slaves got in a line to have their cotton weighed and receive their daily food. The minimum amount of cotton to be picked in one day was 200 pounds. The field slaves were driven all day long by a white overseer with a whip. At about the age of twelve a child's work became almost the same as an adult's. Slaves got Sundays off and maybe parts of Saturday unless it was during harvest. On very hot days slaves might be given one to two hours off at midday. Slaves sometimes hunted and fished during their free time. A field worker's day was filled with hard
work.
House Slaves
Most house slaves were living under better conditions than field workers. However, house slaves did not get Sunday off and usually attended church with the master and mistress. 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. These slaves sometimes stole food from the owner. A h
ouse slave had a better opportunity to learn how to read and write. They often listened in on their owner's conversations so they were able to warn field slaves of the owner auctioning certain slaves and other important things. 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 infants allowing the mistress to do whatever she wanted. These slaves also weaved, quilted and spun linens. Although house slaves had more privileges, being a house slave was not much, if any easier than being a field worker.
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