Slavery Life -
Work Life -
Work Life -
- Slaves worked in many different roles.
- Some worked in the home of the slave master, but most worked in the field.
- Few lucky ones were trained with specialized skills, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, millers, shoemakers, and weavers.
- The slaves in the fields, and their work, was strongly affected by the seasons.
- In the field, slaves worked under an overseer.
- Some slaves were assistants to the overseer, known as drivers. These people made sure that slaves worked hard all day.
- The most difficult crop to tend was rice.
- Slaves worked from sunrise to sunset.
- Slaves lived in difficult conditions.
- Poor nutrition led to sickness, which was made worse by the demands of hard labor.
- Slaves were often harshly disciplined with whipping.
- Slave clothing varied, depending on whether you worked in the field or in the slave master's home.
- Slave's attire reflected the owner's wealth and high social status.
- Slaves were usually allotted clothing once a year. This included two outfits, one for winter and one for summer, a pair of shoes, a coat, and a hat.
- They were given a daily food allowance, which varied in amount.
- Slaves were often able to tend to small gardens, where they could grow vegetables for themselves.
- Homes were wooden shacks with dirt floors.
- Wooden shacks were usually shared between two, or more, enslaved families.
- To free a slave was known as manumission. Once the slaves were free they were expected to leave the state.
- Slaves were considered to be property.
- They were auctioned, bought, and sold, not treated like the people God made them to be.
- Slaves weren't allowed to own property or firearms, read or write, marry, vote, or leave a slaveholder's land without permission.
- They weren't allowed to meet in large groups, preach or teach, or be set free easily.
- Slavery was essential to the South's economy because of explosion of cotton and the invention of the cotton gin.
- Cotton was essential to the South.
- The North's industries relied on the Southern cotton (so did the North's economy).
- In 1850, 3/4 cotton in the world is in produced in the South.
- People, from all around the world, buy cotton.
- Over 4 million people in the South are slaves.
- Cotton was also known as white gold.
- With the invention of the cotton gin, one person can produce more cotton than ever before.
- The power loom helps us create the first binary code, therefore leading to the invention of computers.