How African Men and Women Experienced Slavery?

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The New World plantation, appearing historically with the rise of world markets, resembles in some ways the Old World manor: both were, and in America still are, “relatively large landed estates based upon agricultural economics, governing numbers of people on the principle of authority.” In this respect, the feudal attitudes of the manor have been reproduced on the plantation. The book Ar’n’t I a Woman, the author portrays that life of a woman in plantation was more difficult that life of a man because of different duties and responsibilities assigned to a woman-slave.

The primary role of women was child bearing. The author portrays that slave-breeding was a systematic business, and southerners generally refuted these accusations of their northern opponents. Breeding slaves like cattle for market was a disgraceful business, though undoubtedly it occurred. Owners certainly considered slave-rearing of prime importance and did not hesitate to boast of what they considered an annual growth in their estates accruing from their infant slave populations. They encouraged their slaves to propagate since natural increase meant additional wealth. Breeding slaves are familiar terms in writings of the Old South. The grant carried with it a condition that the grantee introduce Negro slaves in sufficient numbers to improve and cultivate the land.

And arn’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen them most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And aren’t I a woman? (White 45)

The nursery was a solidly built structure, roomy and comfortable. On some plantations, it resembled the overseer’s cottage and was often located in the quarters next to or near the overseer’s cottage.

Field hands between eighteen and thirty years of age brought more than older Negroes, and male hands brought higher prices than female hands. Children were often priced according to height and weight and infants were valued by the pound. Attractive females and skilled workers sometimes sold for triple the value, and in some instances the buyer would pay more for a group of Negroes upon agreement that the old and infirm would be excluded. An arrangement somewhere between the gang and task system was most often used, since the whole plantation functioned better when certain tasks were performed by Negroes more skilled in that particular work. The more skilled laborers were classified as blacksmiths, brickmasons, carpenters, cooks, ginwrights, seamstresses, shoemakers, and weavers, to distinguish them from field hands who were termed “axe hands,” “hoe hands,” and “plow hands.” The positions demanding skilled labor were eagerly sought because of the distinction and because they involved partial or complete exemption from field labor. When cotton was ready to be picked all of the slaves were sent to the field to help. At other times the more skilled laborers performed their individual tasks.

Slaves who were worked in the field were separated into groups such as “hoe-gangs” and “plow-gangs.” The former were led by a driver, the latter by a foreman. Drivers and foremen acted as petty officers and demanded a certain respect among Negroes, as did firstclass hands. Drivers were responsible for forcing a certain amount of speed among the hoe gang. Under supervision of the driver, Slaves too old to work in the field were assigned regular duties which took less physical effort. Old men worked as gardeners, wagoners, carters, and stock-tenders. Aged or infirm women were employed as hospital nurses, assistant cooks, workers in the dairy or poultry yard, caretakers of Negro children in the plantation nursery, or in sewing and repairing garments and in spinning and weaving. The more skilled laborers such as blacksmiths, carpenters, house servants, seamstresses, and the like were all considered first-class hands. A caste system existed among slaves. The first-class hands considered themselves superior to the field hands. Among the Negroes Edward Bradford inherited and took to Florida were his house servants. They considered themselves part of the Bradford family and felt superior to Bradford’s newer slaves, such as Fannie, a “boughton nigger,” purchased as a house servant from a slavetrader. The woman writes:

That man over there says women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And arn’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed, and planted , and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And arn’t I woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! (White 46)

The life of the men was more pleasant than that of the field hands. Their food was likely to be the same as their owners, and used clothing was often passed on to them by their owners. House servants sometimes learned to read and write because of their association with children of planters. Some traveled with their owners as personal servants and enjoyed advantages generally denied slaves in other categories. Slave-hiring, though it was a restricted form of slave-trading and has been mentioned as such, also concerned slave labor. Slave-hiring throughout the South came into wide use because of labor shortages and the demand for labor by certain groups who were not slave owners and by others who needed additional labor for a temporary period of time. A certain amount of prestige was involved in the ownership and hiring out of slaves. Slaves preferred to be hired rather than to be sold to an objectionable owner, though there were many undesirable conditions involved in the labor of hired slaves. The author portrays:

I am a woman’s rights [sic]. I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that? I have heard much about the sexes being equal; I can carry as much as any man, and can eat as much too, if I can get it. I am strong as any man that is now (White 47).

The supply for hiring came from several sources. It was common for slaves from estates of deceased planters to be hired out as a source of income for the beneficiaries. Also, planters sometimes resorted to hiring because of crop failure or unfortunate managerial conditions on the plantation. There was a certain amount of personal tragedy involved in the system of hiring since the place of hire was sometimes far away from family and friends. Hired slaves were often overworked since the period of hire was temporary and there was little concern for the welfare of the Negro. Hardships endured by hired slaves encouraged them to run away.

Slaves were needed to clear the heavily timbered hammocks and dig out the stumps and roots of trees before fertile lands could be cultivated. Migration to the forests of Middle Florida typifies the pattern of the early settler in his desire for new wealth. He moved to a wilderness with his slaves, cleared the woods and planted a field, built a log house, and enjoyed these primitive surroundings while planning to expand his holdings in acreage and slaves to become an established planter. In the mind of the planter, his slaves’ physical well-being was as important as religious instruction. The more progressive planters had hospitals and dispensaries on their plantations to care for sick and ailing Negroes.

I can’t read, but I can hear. I have heard the Bible and have learned that Eve caused man to sin. Well if woman upset the world, do give her a chance to set it right side up again. The lady has spoken about Jesus, how he never spurned woman from him, and she was right. When Lazarus died, Mary and Martha came to him with faith and love and besought him to raise their brother. Man, where is your part? (White 47)

Though hospitals varied in size, twenty by twenty-five feet was considered adequate to house three or four sick Negroes at a time. Hospitals were built well off the ground, with enough windows for proper ventilation and substantial fireplaces for adequate heat in winter. Mattresses on hospital beds were constructed of refuse cotton and corn shucks, as these were thought to be healthier and cheaper than feather mattresses. Patience’s father was not only a capable field worker but also a finished shoemaker. After tanning and curing his hides by placing them in water with oak bark for several days and then exposing them to the sun to dry, he would cut out the uppers and the soles after measuring the foot to be shod. There would be an inside sole as well as an outside sole tacked together by means of small tacks made of maple wood. Sewing was done on the shoes by means of flax thread. Patience remembers saving the feathers from all the fowl to make feather beds. She doesn’t remember when women stopped wearing hoops in their skirts nor when bed springs replaced bed ropes.

In sum, it was more difficult to be a woman performance both men and women’s duties and functions. Women were deprived a chance to protect their rights and freedoms. the author portrays that that these things were typical for many plantations. Sh She remembers seeing buggies during slavery time, little light carriages, some with two wheels and some with four.

Cotton Plantations

The book Plantation Mistress portrays life and chances of women implantations and their role in economy. The author underlines that cotton growers in Florida soon discovered that the soil was especially suited for the growth of Sea Island cotton. It was superior to the short staple, and, because of the length of its fiber, it was used for the finest fabrics and sewing thread. French manufacturers used it to adulterate their silk fabrics. Though the Sea Island variety required more space for cultivation and took about four weeks longer to mature, its market price per pound was about twice that of short staple.

They were picking cotton in groups at different places in the fields while an overseer on horseback rode from one group to another. In one field near the quarters, women “sucklers” were picking cotton. They were working near the nursery to be able to feed their infants when necessary during the day. Such a scene as this, portraying happiness and contentment of slaves, was a condition owners strove to create among their Negroes. In instructions to overseers, they frequently expressed concern for the well-being of their slaves. Their food and clothing must be adequate and their houses comfortable, and they must be cared for in sickness and old age. Owners were well aware of the importance of providing the necessities of life to insure profitable returns from investments in Negroes, and, more especially, to sustain a labor force. And so, if for no other reason, self-interest prompted most planters to see that their slaves were properly cared for. To provide them with adequate food and clothing was the first consideration.

Planters came to realize that, if they were to produce an article of superior quality, their prosperity and ability to meet the demand for the staple depended more on restoring the fertility of the land than on the quantity of land under cultivation. Florida planters were free from the strong prejudices which bound the planters of older regions. They used the plow more extensively and were able to cultivate more acreage per hand, a contributing factor in the growth of the cotton industry in Florida. Though there were advantages from the soil, planters were not without the crop hazards which were a bane to all who participated in the culture of cotton. Methods of cultivation varied; the hoe and plow were most common. One progressive planter reported that he never used the hoe; instead he used horse-drawn implements, such as the scraper, skimmer, and sweep, which were more efficient for shallow cultivating than ordinary plows. They covered a greater width when making a furrow. ¹⁰ The planting of short staple cotton began in March and extended through early May. Sea Island cotton was planted the last two weeks in March

Cotton started blossoming about the first of June. Picking began in August, or when a hand could gather about fifty pounds in a day; it was picked over several times from the first to the last opening of the bolls. Pickings as late as December and January were not unusual, to gather the last remaining cotton from the plants. Cotton left on the bush too long might easily be injured by sun, wind, or rain, causing the oil to evaporate in the plant, thus reducing its weight. The picked cotton was stored in close bulk from four to eight weeks “to allow it to heat, care being taken not to allow it to heat too much, and to let the oil from the seed diffuse through the lint, imparting to it the ‘ting’ so admired by buyers and manufacturers. After this preparation, cotton was ready for ginning. Discriminating planters saw that their cotton was ginned carefully at a moderate speed and that packing was done in damp and moderately rainy weather. This resulted in better packing and heavier weight. The bagging was then put on loosely to allow for any swelling; the ropes around the bagging were put on tightly to prevent any undue expansion of the bale.

Occasionally, planters allowed their cotton to be fraudulently packed. An article written by the Cotton Brokers Association in Liverpool to the American Chamber of Commerce in 1835 stated that the fraudulent practice of packing cotton caused great concern and suggested that planters attach their names on the bales so that those who proved reliable could demand a preference in the market. The usual method of this dishonest practice was to place good cotton on the two sides of the bale to be sampled, leaving the inside packed with inferior quality. It was not unusual to find trash, rocks, or water in the center of the bales, placed there to increase the weight. These practices created a storm of protest from cotton factors; they threatened to publish the names of persons indulging in such methods. “Plantation mistresses attempted to exert an “uplifting” influence on black women-to little avail” (Clinton 91).

Cotton gins, presses, and other heavy plantation equipment necessary to prepare cotton for shipping were expensive, and many of the planters could not afford them; they usually paid a more fortunate neighbor for the use of such equipment. Alfred Gatlin of Leon County had “doubtful notes and accounts amounting to $111 and good notes amounting to $81” for the use of his equipment. In the early period of plantation growth in Florida, cotton instead of cash was sometimes used as a medium of exchange. Plantation accounts found among county courthouse records, dated 1845 to 1860, show that corn and hides were frequently used by planters as payment for merchandise. When cotton was ready for shipment, “six-mule team” wagons hauled it to the warehouse.

Prices covering the cost of marketing cotton varied by locality, depending on the distance to port and methods used to move the cotton. During the early 1820s, total costs for handling and shipping cotton from a Georgia plantation averaged six dollars a bale. Improved conditions in handling and shipping reduced costs slightly during the next decade and the average appears to have been nearer four dollars. The importance of cotton was a natural result of the demand for it at home and abroad from manufacturers who found a ready market for the finished products. Cotton employed “millions of the human family in its culture, commerce, and manufacture” and in directly employed as many more “who produced the articles required for the sustenance of those first so engaged.” In 1850, the consumption of cotton in England and the United States averaged five to six pounds per person, in France about four pounds per person, and in Prussia about three. Fabrics and garments made from cotton grown in the southern United States were superior to those manufactured from India cotton, and the finished products were universally preferred. The planter or southern merchant received advances on or payment for the cotton shipped, usually by means of sixty-day sterling bills or four-month New York drafts.

The cotton weigher’s position was an important one and he was respected within the community. When Florida became a state, provision was made by the General Assembly to have the governor appoint certain persons from time to time to serve as public cotton weighers. Usually the appointment was made upon recommendation of interested persons in the area (Kalman 34). The merchant and planter had to have confidence in the cotton weigher. Apalachicola was such a thriving port that six cotton weighers were appointed to serve that area in 1846. Supplying planters and marketing their cotton was a profitable business, and the factorage system was the financial arrangement upon which it was based. That the system enriched the factor and merchant is evidenced by the various charges made for handling cotton, financing the planter, and supplying his needs. The system by no means deprived the planter of his share of the profits from his crops, though a contrary concept has often been suggested by contemporary travelers and economic historians of the twentieth century (Kalman 34).

The role of women was limited by white women supported and taught black slaves how to perform the main functions and work with cotton. “Indeed, religion was an effective tool for this oppression-perhaps more so with women, trapped within the white male bastion, than with slaves, segregated into separate communities” (Clinton 165). Their standard of living rose as they adjusted their tastes and habits to an expanded cotton economy. Newer and finer dwellings replaced the log cabins and frame cottages of the frontier and depression era. Sterling silverware, linen sheets, and expensive horses and carriages were typical accessories. Vacationing at resorts to escape the summer heat became commonplace. Daughters and sons were sent to boarding schools and universities in adjoining states or in the North. The gentleman planter of the late ante-bellum period stands as the symbol of the “Old South” and its way of life. Most of the wealth and power of the slaveholding states was controlled by members of this aristocratic group, though they constituted only a small percentage of the white population. The majority of the white people in Florida, as in other cotton states, belonged to the yeomanry. They owned small estates or none at all, and most owned no slaves. There was a tendency for these yeomen to climb into the planter class, and they frequently did when acquiring sufficient acreage and slaves to classify them as such. Class distinctions were based on wealth, though there was some recognition for differences in education and breeding, Inventories and appraisals of estates help to complete a picture of plantation life; they list specifically the articles which were necessary equipment for operating the plantation.

Works Cited

Clinton, C. The Plantation Mistress. Pantheon, 1984.

Kalman, B. Life in the Plantation. Crabtree Publishing Company, 1997.

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How African Men and Women Experienced Slavery?

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