Slavery was a difficult time for Africans, especially when they were lured on boats and sent to other continents. According to the book To Be a Slave, slaves were lured onto boats by people dropping pieces of cloth in a trail onto the boat. People scrambled to grab a piece, and, the Natives were captured. According to another account, the African woman’s babies were thrown into the water to drown. The mothers could not bear this and jumped into the water after their children to drown, also. After slaves arrived in America, they were treated like dirt on plantations. They were whipped, beaten, and sometimes killed. Slaves were constantly coming into America, so there was no need to be gentle with them. Even though there were tough times, slaves still managed to have some fun. According to several accounts, slaves would have parties on and the holidays.
Christmas was an enjoyable time, as most slave owners were kinder to their slaves around Christmas. Another event was the cakewalk. It was a contest where contestants would dance inside a circle, and if they stepped outside of the circle they were out. The winner would get a cake. These cakewalks often happened during the slaves’ parties. A slave’s daily life was difficult. “…each slave is presented with a sack. A strap is fastened to it, which goes over the neck, holding the mouth of the sack breast high, while the bottom nearly reaches to the ground. Each one is also presented with a large basket that will hold about two barrels” (To Be a Slave). This slave refers to the cotton picking season, in which slaves harvested the cotton. Another former slave tells about how poorly treated the slaves were daily. “…with the exception of ten or fifteen minutes, which is given them at noon to swallow their allowance of cold bacon, they are not permitted to be a moment idle until it is too dark to see, and when the moon is full, they oftentimes labor till the middle of the night.
They do not dare to stop even at dinner time, nor return to the quarters, however late it be, until the order to halt is given by the driver” (To Be a Slave). Slaves always had difficulties, as the slave referred to. The plantation was where the slaves lived, worked, and often died. A slave describes the plantation as “It was a large white mansion, with fluted columns and a broad porch; massive trees spread their limbs over a circular driveway which led up to the house. From the carriages which rolled up the driveway stepped finely dressed men and woman, the aristocracy of southern culture. Once inside the mansion, these ladies and gentlemen sat beneath chandeliers in high-ceilinged rooms and discoursed on the topics of the day. And all the while they were attended to by unobtrusive, attentive, and faithful Negro slaves” (To Be a Slave). With many different accounts as proof, why were and whites so cruel? Why did they steal and beat their human neighbor?
127 our experts are availableright now
They did not think it was wrong. They had different morals than we do today. So if you think that they were the monsters, think again. Will people soon think that we are the wrong ones? Will they think that we are the monsters? Slavery Part Two Slavery began to change. Soon, Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the slaves rejoiced, for the proclamation declared that in certain areas of the Confederate states, they were free. When slaves heard the news, many thought that their masters were joking. “One day I was milking the cows. Mr. Dave come down into the field and he had a paper in his hand. Listen to me, Tom, he said. Listen to what I read you. And he read from a paper all about how I was free. You can’t tell how I felt. You’re joking me, I says. No, I ain’t, says he. You’re free.” (To Be a Slave) Many slaves simply couldn’t comprehend that they were free. They had nowhere to go, nothing to eat, and nowhere to sleep.
What they had wanted for years had finally come, but they did not know how to take care of themselves. Many did not have relatives to go to or any money to spend. What were they supposed to do with their new gift of freedom? Slave owners were in shock when the proclamation came out. They were losing their servants, along with all the money that they made. Should they keep it a secret from the slaves? Should they simply give up their life of luxury? Emancipation was a huge step for the slaves to having a regular life. Life wasn’t perfect yet, though. There was still discrimination, segregation and racism to deal with and everyone was angry with them for something that they didn’t do. They didn’t have anything. Would you still fight for your freedom when you knew that if you got the one thing you really wanted, you would lose everything else? Slavery Part Three In 1850, about 13% of the United States population were African Americans.
Most of these African Americans were slaves. Law stated that slaves were simply property and they could be sold, traded, and bought. Discrimination happened daily in the 1800s. According to TCI, the definition of discrimination is “unequal treatment based on a person’s race, gender, religion, place of birth, or other arbitrary characteristics. Slaves worked hard every day on farms of various sizes. On large plantations, overseers were hired to watch the slaves and to make sure that they were working hard and getting the most work possible out of them. TCI says “He is called up in the morning at day break, and is seldom allowed time enough to swallow three mouthfuls of hominy [boiled corn], or hoecake [cornbread], but is driven out immediately to the field to hard labor . . . About noon . . . he eats his dinner, and he is seldom allowed an hour for that purpose . . . Then they return to severe labor, which continues until dusk” (TCI). After that, there were still more chores to be done. They had to split wood, feed animals, carry water, and more. Some slaves did not work in the field.
They might have been seamstresses, cooks, or servants. According to TCI, “We lodged in log huts, and on bare ground. Wooden floors were an unknown luxury. In a single room were huddled, like cattle, ten or a dozen persons, men, women, and children . . . We had neither bedsteads nor furniture of any description. Our beds were collections of straw and old rags, thrown down in the corners” (TCI). Slaves did not go hungry often though, for that was meaness even among slaveholders. “Marse [master] Alec had plenty for his slaves to eat. There was meat, bread, collard greens, snap beans, ‘taters, peas, all sorts of dried fruit, and just lots of milk and butter” (TCI). Slaves wore clothing made out of rough linen cloth. They did not recieve many clothing garments and were to go naked when the shirts got worn out until the next year. Slaveholders kept slaves under control by whipping and beating them. Punishments often backfired on slaveholders for the slaves often felt more rebellious and couldn’t work for a period of time. “Slaveholders preferred to control their workforce by making slaves feel totally dependent on their masters. Owners encouraged such dependence by treating their slaves like grown-up children” (TCI)
