bellwork the african american population in the south—primarily the slaves—outnumbered the slave...

Bellwork• The African American population in the south

—primarily the slaves—outnumbered the slave owners in almost every situation. How do you think the slave owners kept control of the slaves?

American History

Section 10, Unit 3The Slave System

Objectives

• Describe what life was like for slave laborers• Explain how slave owners controlled their

slaves• Determine how African Americans resisted

and coped with slavery through discussion and by analyzing a video

Slave System

• Slavery dominated southern society and slaves continuously resisted in many ways.

• Some openly rebelled against slavery while others quietly sabotaged the work.

• Regardless, in the face of such brutality, slaves continuously pushed to strengthen their family and cultural ties in an effort to survive.

Slave labor

• Most enslaved African Americans– around 75%-- lived and worked on plantations and farms.

• Those who did not worked as skilled seamstresses, weavers, and carpenters.

• Some slave labor was hired out to employers who ran mines, ironworks, factories and mills.

Slave labor

• Some slaves worked on public works, such as building roads and canals, mining rocks, or draining swampland.

• Others worked in the bustling naval trade industry, working on docks or loading and unloading ships in southern ports.

Slave labor

• City slaves tended to live a less grim existence than those who worked the fields.

• Field slaves worked from dawn to dusk, averaging anything from 18-20 hours of work a day during the harvest season.

Slave labor

• Other plantation slaves– especially women– worked in the home and were maids, cooks, or nannies.

• Others did sewing or laundry. • Male slaves also worked as wheelwrights,

coach drivers, gardeners, or in other skilled areas.

Slave labor

• On smaller farms, slaveholders would supervise directly, unlike larger plantations.

• On plantations, overseers– who were usually related to the planter or were small farmers– managed the slaves.

• Drivers, who assisted the overseers in supervision, were almost always slaves themselves.

Slave labor

• Drivers– because they were slaves– had the difficult job of being between the master and the slave.– Some were even expected to handle a whip if

necessary.

• While a driver might have been popular with a slave master, other slaves may have had a general disdain for the driver.

Question: How do you think other slaves felt about the drivers?

Slave labor

• Slaves were often organized into tight work crews– referred to as gang labor– which allowed a driver to be a foreman of the group.

• Each group was expected to do specialized jobs, such as plowing, picking, etc.

African American Nanny with child

Living conditions

• To make a profit on slave labor, planters had to make sure the slaves were fed, clothed, and free from illness.

• Masters valued their “property” because each slave would cost around $1,800 at the time.

• A death or serious injury of a slave was a major financial blow to a planter.

Living conditions

• Many slaves did fall to illnesses, especially infectious diseases.

• Pneumonia and dysentery were widespread and malnutrition often led to dental and other health problems.

Slave quarters

• Slaves lived in cramped and sparsely furnished conditions.

• An entire family could live in a one-room log cabin with nothing more than a fireplace.

• The cabins were often poorly built, meaning they were quite cold in the harsh winters.

Food

• Food was rationed in most plantations.• Ben Horry, a former slave, explained that on

every Saturday, every slave would line up at the smokehouse to get a share of meat, rice, grits, and meal.

• However, this was never enough to feed an entire family.

Question: If there is not enough food, what might slaves do to survive?

Food

• Because food rations were never enough, slaves often fished or hunted when they were able or grew foods on small farms they built in designated areas.

• House slaves sometimes got food from the kitchen while others had to resort to stealing.

Clothing• Slaves’ clothing was generally

simple. • It was usually made of a coarse

woolen or linen or cotton material similar to burlap.

• Most slaves were given two outfits a year, one for summer and one for winter.– As well, these slaves might get

one pair of shoes a year and when those wore out, they went barefoot.

Clothing

• House slaves, however, tended to be better dressed.

• Expectations of house slaves usually were different than those of the field hands, meaning they usually dressed well.– Their clothing was often

second hand from the planters family, meaning it was usually well made.

Treatment of Slaves

• Some slaves lived much better lives than others. • Living conditions and treatment varied from owner

to owner. • Because slaves were a financial investment, some

slave owners had no interest in harming their slaves, fearing that doing so could cripple their ability to work.

Question: How do you think slaves were treated? Keep in mind, they are a financial investment.

Treatment of slaves

• On some plantations, planters used rewards to get the slaves to work.

• These planters may have used money, gifts, extra food or clothing as a way to incentivize their slaves to work harder. – Slaves could also earn privileges or receive easier

work– such as becoming a house slave.

Treatment of slaves

• Other planters, however, used or threatened violence to get obedience.

• If slaves were late or did not work hard enough, overseers could be brutal.

“[The box] was made the height of the person and no larger. Just large enough so the person didn’t have to be squeezed in. The box is nailed and in the summer is put the hot sun; in winter it is put in the coldest, dampest place.”

--Prince Smith, former slave

Treatment of slaves

• Sometimes slaveholders disciplined slaves with extra work or reduced rations, but whipping was also common.

• Some slaves tried to resist the masters will when being whipped, such as by not crying out.

Treatment of slaves

• Slaves who resisted authority or showed signs of independence were whipped.

• If discipline did not work, however, they might be sold off away from their family.

Treatment of slaves

• Slave marriages in the South had no legal standing. Because of this, slaveholders would sometimes break apart a slave couple by selling one, but not the other.

• As well, because slaves sold better when being sold separately, children were often sold away from parents and siblings.

Solomon Northup

• Solomon Northup, a free northern African who was kidnapped and became a slave for 12 years, described one scene:

“The afflicted mother.. Kept on begging and beseeching them, most piteously, not to separate the three. Over and over again she told them how she loved her boy… But it was to no avail… Then [the mother] ran to [her son]… told him to remember her– all the while tears falling in the boy’s face like rain…”

Treatment of slaves• Slave codes– which covered all aspects of

slave lives– kept slaves legally powerless. • Slaves could not testify against whites, own

property, have firearms, or leave plantations without a pass.

• Any white person could stop any black person and demand to see proof of free status or permission to be away from the plantation. – White patrols roamed the rural South to enforce

the laws and apprehend escaping slaves.

Resistance

• In the face of such horrible conditions, slaves used several strategies to improve their lives.

• Some ways were quiet while others were complete open rebellions.

Resistance

• In the first half the 19th century, there were several small uprisings in the South.

• While none of these early uprisings led into anything, they did strike fear into many southern whites.

• Slaveholders knew their power was based on force; but they also knew that the slave population– in many cases- was double the white population.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

• In 1831, White southerner’s fears came to fruition.

• Nat Turner, a deeply religious slave, believed that he had received visions from God that told him to free the slaves.

• He planned his rebellion on July 4, 1831.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

• On August 21, Turner and a small band of rebels killed Turner’s master and his family and about 60 other whites in the area.

• The state militia and local whites organized into a hunt for Turner, killing about 100 slaves during the time it took to find him.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

• Nat Turner was captured in November and– after not pleading guilty in a trial– was hanged November 11, 1831.

• Ironically, instead of freeing the slaves, Nat Turner’s rebellion only made the lives of many slaves more difficult.

Consequences

• Nat Turner’s rebellion caused some states to pass stricter slave codes.

• These codes made it illegal to teach slaves to read and place more restrictions on slave’s movements.

• Some whites also took the law into their own hands, capturing, beating, or killing slaves at will.

Resistance

• While open rebellion was rare, slaves sometimes protested through individual action.

• They might have fake an illness, slowed their pace, or damaged tools.

• Desperate slaves, however, sometimes mutilated themselves in the hope of being unable to work or be sold--- others simply committed suicide.

Resistance• However, one of the most tempting forms of

resistance was simply running away.• Chances of success were slim, and punishment

was brutal for slaves who got caught.

Question

Does anyone know who this is?

If you don’t, think of the Underground Railroad.

The woman standing here in Harriet Tubman, who we will discuss in a moment.

Underground Railroad

• Aid for escaping came from the Underground Railroad, a network of white and black abolitionists who helped slaves escape to the North or to Canada.

• Escaping slaves made their way slowly out of the South, hidden in attics and haylofts by day and taken by “conductors” to the next safe house at night.

Underground Railroad

• Most slaves were smuggled on foot, but as more and more began to make the attempt, the conductors would smuggle them in covered wagons or inside crates.

Underground Railroad

• The conductors on the Underground Railroad helped thousands of slaves gain their freedom.

• Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave herself, was the most famous and successful conductor.

• Risking her own freedom, Tubman freed more than 300 slaves during the 19 trips she made to the South.

Underground Railroad

• Despite the daring of many slaves, many fugitives were captured and turned into their masters.

• However, during the time the Underground Railroad operated, it is estimated that anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 slaves were taken to the North or Canada between 1810 and 1850.

Slave Culture

• Although slaves lives were controlled for most of the day, their lives were their own when not working.

• Slaves devoted time to family and community, creating a unique African American culture.

• This culture blended the customs of a variety of African groups.

Family

• Preserving family ties was difficult for slaves.

• In response, slaves extended their family ties to include distant and close relatives.

• Nonrelated individuals also shared in the ties, being known as aunts and uncles to the children.

Religion

• Religion played a vital role in the lives of enslaved African Americans.

• Many worship services blended Christianity with traditional African beliefs.

• Christianity, for many slaves, helped them cope with their present situation in the hopes of salvation in the afterlife.

Religion

• Central to slave religion was the idea that they were God’s chosen people, who were expected to reach the “promised land”, like the Hebrews before them.

Religion

• Unlike white ministers who preached obedience to their slave masters, African American preachers spoke about what was close to their hearts.

• However, because of Nat Turner’s rebellion, many masters stopped allowing slaves to congregate, even for religious purposes.

Religion

• Slaveholders feared that slaves would take the chance to plan rebellion.

• Slaves continued to hold gatherings, but they took to hiding in the woods or in secret to avoid detection.

Religion

• As part of their Christian faith, slaves also sang haunting songs called spirituals.

• These songs– also called “sorrow songs”– were sung during work, relaxation, and worship and often covered the ideals of freedom and enslavement. – Many songs were modeled after Christian hymnes.

Folktales

• Slaves used folktales as an important means of passing down their culture.

• The folktales were based on African stories, but related to local situations, family histories, and personal experiences.

• Most of the tales involved everyday relationships– such as a parents love, misbehaving children, and more.

Folktales

• Some folktales also covered moral issues.• In these, they warned of excessive pride or

stressed the ideals of cooperation and love.

Folktales

• Storytelling, especially the use of animal tricksters, gave slaves a way of talking about whites and slavery in a guarded form.

• These tales were often humorous and entailed a stronger animal attempting to trap a weaker animal.

Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox: two characters from the Uncle Remus Folktales.

Brer Rabbit

• What we are going to do, is we are going to watch a video about an African folktale. The video is from the controversial Disney movie Song of the South.

• During the clip, please consider the following: who does Brer Rabbit represent? Who does Brer Fox and Brer Bear represent?

Folktales

• In the video we watched, who did Brer Rabbit represent and who did Brer Fox and Brer Bear represent?

To openly discuss slavery, the slaves often modeled the weaker animal after themselves– such Brer Rabbit– and the stronger animals after the slaveholders.

The story, however, often focuses on how the weaker animal outsmarts or tricks the stronger animals to gain wealth, success, or power.

Folktales

• Trickster tales– like the Uncle Remus stories–. allowed African Americans to face the harsh master-slave relationship

• Laughter helped them deal with painful situations, allowing them to endure slavery.

Slavery

• Stories, religion, and family life helped slaves resist against one of the most horrible forms of systemic abuse in American history.

• In this, they maintained hope and continued to face the overwhelming abuse that they faced on a day-to-day basis.

• However, slowly, things were beginning to change as Americans began to see the world around them differently.

Questions

• If you have any questions, please ask now.

Next lesson

• In the next lesson we are going to discuss the push for abolition of slavery

Review1. In what ways were house slaves and field slaves different? Think of at

least (2) ways their experiences may have been different.2. What kinds of work did slaves perform in the South? 3. Why were some slaves actually treated somewhat well by slave

owners? In what ways were they treated “well”? 4. How did Nat Turner’s rebellion possibly hurt slaves more than help

them? Explain your answer. 5. Why were drivers often disliked amongst the other slaves? 6. What strategies did slaves use to resist slavery? Give at least 3

strategies and explain them. 7. Why would slaveholders use cruel punishments– like a sweatbox– to

keep control of their slaves? 8. How did folktales help Africans deal with the horrendous situation

they lived in? 9. If you were a slave in the 1800’s and you had the opportunity to

escape on the Underground Railroad, would you have? Why? What might happen if you were captured?