Field slaves
Encyclopedia
Field slaves were African American
people who did the hard manual labor in the fields of plantations. They commonly picked cotton
, sugar
, rice
and tobacco
.
There were two types of slaves, lower class slaves, and higher class slaves. Lower class slaves would be considered the field slaves, and the upper class slaves being the house slaves
. Just as the name suggests, house slaves were slaves that worked in the great house and field slaves worked in the fields of the plantation. The conditions for field slaves were a lot worse than house slaves.
First of all, being a field slave was much more grueling than being a house slave. Field slaves would be up from sunup until sun down in the hot fields working. Many times, field slaves would be in the fields 10-18 hours a day. During the course of their day, field slaves were monitored by an overseer. An overseer made sure that the work the slaves were doing did not slow down or cease until the work day was over. If things were not running smoothly or someone was not working enough, they would be whipped by the overseer.
Even pregnant enslaved women could not escape duties on the field. She would have to work up until the delivery of the baby and right after the delivery of the baby. The clothing that the field slaves were given were terrible. Field slaves received the bare minimum to cover their bodies and were usually allotted just one winter pair of clothes and one summer pair of clothes. Field slaves often lived in one room shacks with mud floors. Field slaves were fed once a day. Their meal generally consisted of cornmeal and fatty meat given to them by the slave master.
Many times, there was animosity between the field slaves and the house slaves. One of the reasons for this is that house slaves acted as the slave master's spy on occasion, they would report to the slave master on runaway plans and even who was slacking in the field when they should be working.
The most usual crop in the south was cotton, which is a very prickly bush. Often, the bushes would cut their hands but they had to keep working despite the bleeding. At times the field slaves were worked until sundown or death. They were fed whatever their master chose to give them for the day and had to make dishes out of things they could find. The slaves lived in one-room cabins with their whole family and slept on straw filled mattresses. The cabin roofs were usually leaky and in the winter the cabin filled with smoke because of the fireplace.
Over time the slave masters found out that they can make more money by keeping and selling the slaves to other white people.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
people who did the hard manual labor in the fields of plantations. They commonly picked cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
, rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
and tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
.
There were two types of slaves, lower class slaves, and higher class slaves. Lower class slaves would be considered the field slaves, and the upper class slaves being the house slaves
House slaves
A House slave was a slave who worked and often lived in the house of the slave-owner. House slaves had many duties such as cooking, cleaning, serving meals and caring for children.-House slaves in antiquity:...
. Just as the name suggests, house slaves were slaves that worked in the great house and field slaves worked in the fields of the plantation. The conditions for field slaves were a lot worse than house slaves.
First of all, being a field slave was much more grueling than being a house slave. Field slaves would be up from sunup until sun down in the hot fields working. Many times, field slaves would be in the fields 10-18 hours a day. During the course of their day, field slaves were monitored by an overseer. An overseer made sure that the work the slaves were doing did not slow down or cease until the work day was over. If things were not running smoothly or someone was not working enough, they would be whipped by the overseer.
Even pregnant enslaved women could not escape duties on the field. She would have to work up until the delivery of the baby and right after the delivery of the baby. The clothing that the field slaves were given were terrible. Field slaves received the bare minimum to cover their bodies and were usually allotted just one winter pair of clothes and one summer pair of clothes. Field slaves often lived in one room shacks with mud floors. Field slaves were fed once a day. Their meal generally consisted of cornmeal and fatty meat given to them by the slave master.
Many times, there was animosity between the field slaves and the house slaves. One of the reasons for this is that house slaves acted as the slave master's spy on occasion, they would report to the slave master on runaway plans and even who was slacking in the field when they should be working.
The most usual crop in the south was cotton, which is a very prickly bush. Often, the bushes would cut their hands but they had to keep working despite the bleeding. At times the field slaves were worked until sundown or death. They were fed whatever their master chose to give them for the day and had to make dishes out of things they could find. The slaves lived in one-room cabins with their whole family and slept on straw filled mattresses. The cabin roofs were usually leaky and in the winter the cabin filled with smoke because of the fireplace.
Over time the slave masters found out that they can make more money by keeping and selling the slaves to other white people.