Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16zx20 Stretched Canvas
One third of the population on the Antebellum South (1850-1860) were African-American slaves. After the decline of the tobacco industry, due to tobacco's damaging effects on the soil, cotton became the number one staple crop of the South. Slaves were very expensive, therefore, most slaves were purchased by southern cotton plantation owners, who had the capital to afford the great expense.
Life for the field slave, male or female, entailed work that was long, cruel, difficult and hard. The workers had to be in the fields working by sunrise. In the field, adult women and men were required to pick a minimum of 200 pounds of cotton per person, per day. Sometimes the work had to be done in the blistering Summer sun. Pregnant women were required to work and fill their 200 pound minimum quotas up unto childbirth. After childbirth, they had to strap the infant onto their backs and resume work in the fields. The children, under 12 years old, were required to pick weeds, remove insects and deliver water to the workers. At the age of 12 they were treated as adults and were required to do the work of an adult slave.
After the day's quota was picked, which took hours in the field, the slaves were required to clean and remove weeds, unwanted materials and seeds from the white fluff of the cotton bolls. This process was known as "ginning" the cotton. This was a very tedious and time consuming task. Plantation owners closely scrutinized the gin because the cleaner the cotton, the more it would bear at market. A poor gin
inspection could be cause for the severe beatings of many slaves.
The field workers were driven at a grueling pace by an overseer (sometimes another slave...most times a hired white male) on horseback, armed with a bull-whip. Most field slaves' hands were badly scarred and calloused from years upon years of working in
the cotton fields.
After the cotton was ginned the slaves were required to pack it in bales that weighed on an average 500 pounds. The heavy bales then had to be moved by slave labor to a storage facility or loaded on a wagon to be transported to market .
Free time for a slave was extremely rare. On some hot days they were given about an hour of rest. Generally, they were worked continuously until sundown. After sundown the days crop was weighed and the slaves were fed. After feeding the slaves were free to do their personal chores such as sewing, mending, quilting, washing, bathing, carpentry and general repairs around the quarters.
Having no musical instruments, to speak of, they found solace and entertainment in singing religious and African derived songs while dancing, drumming on their thighs, patting their feet and, on rare occasions, playing improvised instruments, usually made by an elder. The banjo originated from a string instrument made by slaves from Africa.
Some literate slaves were allowed to read the bible, but writing or reading any other text was prohibited.
After dark the slaves were restricted, by law, from leaving the confines of the shack. They were also restricted from gathering in groups of 3 or more unless they were all family.
Most field slaves suffered from sleep deprivation. They were
required to get up at sunrise and were worked hard until sunset. Finding the time and energy to do their personal chores, after dark, and then get the adequate sleep necessary for another hard days work was very difficult. When they did get to sleep, the only bed they had was a coarse blanket on the earthen floor.
There was little heat in the winter and most shacks had no windows to let in a cool breeze in the summer. The shacks leaked in the rain and often the earthen floor became a muddy mire.
Often, slaves were sold or traded to other plantations far away. Entire families were sold and split up never to see each other again. Babies were taken from their mothers and grew up on distant plantations never knowing the identities of their birth family.
Life, for the field slave was a living hell that prompted several to risk escape and death rather than continue to be subjected to the cruel and inhumane treatment most plantations dished out.
Written by Carl G. Brown
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