Life as a Slave
If you were an African American back in the Nineteenth Century, (1801-1899) you would be born into slavery, most likely. After the slave child was born, twelve months later the mother would be sold far away from the child. Most of the families would be denied to stay together by the buyer, and they would have to be sold to different owners. When a slave is four they would become a babysitter and when they turn eight they would start to work on the actual plantation, like an adult. Most of the slaves started their lives off abominable because they had no family and they had to work strain themselves just to do their work. You had to be very wealthy to own or buy a slave.
In the mornings, for a slave, you would wake up at dawn and sometimes have breakfast, most of the times not, then start to work around the plantation or in the house. Most of the jobs slaves would do would be cutting sugar cane, loading barrels onto ships, dig holes, work as a servant to the family, weed the land, and do any work the family needed done. Most slaves worked eight to eighteen hours a day. By the end of the night the house slaves cooked dinner and cleaned up. Every day the cycle of work would continue (except for field slaves on Saturdays, their day off).
There were two different types of slaves. There were the field slaves and house slaves. The field slaves worked hard out in the fields from sun up to sun down (about eighteen hours of work). Even the women had to work the same hours and as hard as men, pregnant or not. They would sleep in tiny huts with Dirt floor. The slaves had to sleep on blankets inside these huts. The huts that were made to live in, had no protection against the cold or the wind. The house slave had better conditions than the field slaves. House slaves cooked, cleaned, took care of the children, served all of the meals, and more tasks like ironing or quilting. They usually slept and lived in closets, attics, or even in corners of a room. The life of a house slave was way easier than a field slave, and that is not saying much.
When you were a slave you had a minimal of most things like clothing and food, also for the right of religion. For clothing you would be given two linen shirts, two pairs of pants, a wool hat, one jacket, one pair of shoes, and one pair of socks each year. For food, every month you would be given cornmeal and salt (to mix) and eight pounds of either fish or pork. If the slave ever disobeyed or rebelled you would be severely punished, sometimes even killed. They would whip them, put them in a smokehouse, or beat them severely. Most slaves weren't allowed to become Christian because it involved the Bible. Being taught to read was banned because of religion purposes.
As you can see, being a slave was not very easy. You didn't have family, you got treated terribly, and you had to labor everyday for hours. Slavery does not exist now and we have the north to thank for that. If the Union didn't win the Civil War there would probably be slavery right now, in the twenty first century. Even though the Union freed four million slaves, it did not stop from influencing American History. In the 1960's in America the Civil Rights Movement came up for debate. This act was passed on July 2, 1964, almost a century after the Actual Civil War.
In the mornings, for a slave, you would wake up at dawn and sometimes have breakfast, most of the times not, then start to work around the plantation or in the house. Most of the jobs slaves would do would be cutting sugar cane, loading barrels onto ships, dig holes, work as a servant to the family, weed the land, and do any work the family needed done. Most slaves worked eight to eighteen hours a day. By the end of the night the house slaves cooked dinner and cleaned up. Every day the cycle of work would continue (except for field slaves on Saturdays, their day off).
There were two different types of slaves. There were the field slaves and house slaves. The field slaves worked hard out in the fields from sun up to sun down (about eighteen hours of work). Even the women had to work the same hours and as hard as men, pregnant or not. They would sleep in tiny huts with Dirt floor. The slaves had to sleep on blankets inside these huts. The huts that were made to live in, had no protection against the cold or the wind. The house slave had better conditions than the field slaves. House slaves cooked, cleaned, took care of the children, served all of the meals, and more tasks like ironing or quilting. They usually slept and lived in closets, attics, or even in corners of a room. The life of a house slave was way easier than a field slave, and that is not saying much.
When you were a slave you had a minimal of most things like clothing and food, also for the right of religion. For clothing you would be given two linen shirts, two pairs of pants, a wool hat, one jacket, one pair of shoes, and one pair of socks each year. For food, every month you would be given cornmeal and salt (to mix) and eight pounds of either fish or pork. If the slave ever disobeyed or rebelled you would be severely punished, sometimes even killed. They would whip them, put them in a smokehouse, or beat them severely. Most slaves weren't allowed to become Christian because it involved the Bible. Being taught to read was banned because of religion purposes.
As you can see, being a slave was not very easy. You didn't have family, you got treated terribly, and you had to labor everyday for hours. Slavery does not exist now and we have the north to thank for that. If the Union didn't win the Civil War there would probably be slavery right now, in the twenty first century. Even though the Union freed four million slaves, it did not stop from influencing American History. In the 1960's in America the Civil Rights Movement came up for debate. This act was passed on July 2, 1964, almost a century after the Actual Civil War.