FAMILY & DAILY LIFE OF A SLAVE

Corinne Florian

Early Seperation When slaves got

taken away from their homes in Africa they were seperated from their parents and siblings.

They most likely will never see them again. (Hallam)

Can a family be made in a plantation? For slaves to re-

establish a family consisting of a husband and wife with children, the conditions of the plantation, and the slave owner would have to be taken into consideration.

The ability of being able to create a family fluctuated over time due to the changing of laws and rules over time. (Hallam)

Meeting New People In small farms where slaves were only

brought over from Africa, or sold in small amounts, there was a higher demand for men as laborers due to their abilities and strength.

This limited the ability to even meet black woman to marry and start a family with.

However, in larger plantations there was a more equal amount of men and woman slaves.

This would be where people would meet and go on to get married and have kids. (Hallam)

Good Parenting All enslaved parents tried very hard to

provide for their children as best they could financially, independently, and with religious values.

Made deals with slave owners to ensure their children would be set free after a specific amount of years.

Tried buying their children out of slavery Black men married white woman, just to

make sure their children wouldn’t be born into slavery. (Hallam)

Was Marriage Accepted on Plantations? Marriages between

slaves were not recognized by the laws and constitutions.

“The most conservative estimates indicate that at least 10 to 20 percent of slave marriages were destroyed by sale.” (Mintz)

Constant Fear of Seperation Slave owners considered a slavery

family unit as a mother and her children, so a lot of the time husbands and fathers were often replaced,

As well as adult men, young men would be taken from their mothers as well.

Woman would barely separated from their mothers.

Often girls would be sold for a large amount of money (mostly light skinned women) into prostitution or concubine. (Hallam)

Varied Living Conditions Depending on the slave owner, slaves

could either live in okay conditions, or awful conditions.

If a slave owner was very wealthy the slaves would have some type of good conditions. However, if they were poor they would recieve very bad place to live, with barely a roof over their heads. (Boston)

Food and Clothing Slaves were fed

and clothed as minumum as possible, so that they were able to survive and work.

They were definately not endulged in any way. (Boston)

Urban Living Slaves “In 1860, about 140,000 slaves lived

in towns and cities throughout the south. In Charleston, South Carolina, alone, the enslaved numbered almost 40,000, constituting a third of the city's population.” (Boston)

They had much better conditions They got to stay in the same house

as their slave owners. (Boston)

Are these good living conditions conditions? Even though they lived in the city,

their conditions werent good at all. Their bed was a plank of wood. All the heat leaves through the

chimney because it is so poorly constructed.

Would have to make all their own food. “These huts are by no means

remarkable for their cleanly appearance.” (Boston)

Daily Schedule The majority of

slaves worked in the fields picking cotton and tobacco, and the others worked in the house doing house chores.

They would be fed corn meal, lard, some meat, molasses, peas, greens, and flour. (Antebellum)

Narrative of Frederick Douglas He was seperated

from his parents at a very young age.

His father was white.

His mother was black.

Saw his mother from time to time, but never for a long period of time. (Narrative)

Works CitedHallam, Jennifer. "Family.” Slavery and the Making of America. PBS. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.

Boston, Nicholas. "Living Conditions.” Slavery and the Making of America. PBS. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.

"Antebellum Slavery.” Africans In America. PBS. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.

Mintz, S. (2007). Digital History. Retrieved. 27 Mar. 2012."Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1997. 311. Print.