How Were Slaves Treated In The 1800s

During the 19th century slavery was a very prominent and controversial issue between the north and the southern states. In the South, most people believed that slavery was a profitable way of life and if the slavery was to be abolished it would then affect their economy. On the hand the northern had different opinions about slavery and intended to stop it. The fact that the perception were different between the two led to a very difficult situation in resolving the issue.

Slaves in the colonies during the revolution were faced with no real options and little liberty. The slaves’ lot in life varied greatly between individual experiences. Those slave owners who had only a few slaves generally treated their slaves better than those with large numbers of slaves. Even if they were treated well, the slaves had little in the way of freedom. They would be required to work throughout the day at the bidding of their masters and had no recourse to whatever punishment was given at their master’s hands. The slaves also had little hope of ever obtaining freedom for themselves and their children (Pavao, n.d.).

Slavery was a dark time in America’s past. Not only did slavery separate millions of families, it destroyed the white man’s reputation to African people. Many slave owners treated their slaves well, many did not. They forced their slaves to live in deplorable conditions. Malnutrition and overworking often led to death. If you were a slave, would you risk it all and try to run away? You might not have a choice if you wanted to stay alive.

On the plantations, slave labor was the primary source of workers. These slaves were brought to the colonies by ship, once they arrived they were sold at auctions. The slave auctions had just men, just women, just children or whole families up for bid. Southern plantations were predominantly black, male slaves. At one point it was believed to be seven male slaves to every one female. The slaves were purchased and then became the property of the

Slave children were treated horribly. “The children were then called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they would come and devour the mush…” (Douglass) When they were fed they had to eat out of trough like pigs while they would have to eat corn meal boiled into a mush. Slaves were never given enough time to finish their meal and were rushed to get back to work. They

Slave lives was hard for them because most families were taken away by their children and relatives. On chapter 9 page (433) "If a father or mother were sold away, an aunt, uncle, or close friend could raise the children left behind." Slaves would be miss treated how if a family member was sold to a different They would only get cloths once a year, and if their clothes would get ruin their family member could lend them cloths or they

Slavery in the 1800s The world has gone through their fair share of struggles. Different religions, races, and etc. have been criticized over and over for centuries. Many people have been put through hardship because of prejudice acts. Prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.

In the city they didn’t have crops nor animals so they had no need for doing outside work. The slaves were almost like maids and housekeepers because they served food and beverages to the master or the master’s visitors. They had to clean and tidy the house for the master. They

Cotton: used in the clothes worn today, but is that all there is to cotton? During the 1700s up to the late 1800s cotton was harvest by slaves. When someone puts on a cotton shirt on they most likely does not think about the past slaves who were forced and tortured and abused all for the cultivation of cotton, It’s essential to mention that slavery was on its way to a natural death during the late 1700s, since the enlightenment and the great awakening combined caused people to think about the inhumanity of slavery. The main factor, however, was the fact that cotton was a difficult crop to harvest. In fact, cotton was a tedious crop to deal with until Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793. This invention caused slavery to continue on several more years and this invention, although it seemed to benefit America at the time, has caused America to be behind with equal rights.

Specific Evidence: Slaves were treated as items rather than people. They would be traded when gambling, given as gifts to others, or offered as security for loans. If they owned a gun, they would be whipped multiple times and stripped of their firearms. They were not allowed to be educated and marriages were not legal. Any meeting between slaves was forbidden unless accompanied by a white person.

The slaves thought that it was unfair and not right that they had were treated in such a way they felt that it was not fair for them to be treated this way they thought that they should be able to do the things that the white people do Such as having animals or growing any kind of vegetables they were not able to have weapons or any kind of anything to defend themselves against the dangerous that were out to get them are anything trying to kill them.

Work in the fields was easier for the younger slaves than the adult slaves.The majority of slaves worked on plantations and farms. There were many different jobs given to the slaves. The slaves would carry wood, hoe fields, gather eggs, watch chickens and gather cotton. They would start these different jobs at young ages.

In the existing world we are used to thinking of work as something done for wages outside the home. This distinction did not hold for the vast majority of laborers in colonial America. Colonial America was overwhelmingly countryside. Many native Americans and blacks be came slaves to the white settlers and by that is how Slavery started in the country and this county has had issues with that for 100s of years. Households were made up of a dwelling place for a family, which often included servants and slaves, a garden, shelter for livestock, and fields for crops. While it was rarely their primary responsibility, many women worked in the fields alongside their husbands, fathers, and brothers, as well as the household's male and female indentured

Slaves worked many different jobs and were used for many different things. The most common for men slaves were field hands who worked the tobacco fields in the southern colonies and were known for working extremely hard and in return were often treated badly. Other slaves were house servants. These slaves did chores around the house or helped out in the master's trade shop.

The slave’s life depended on their owners. Most owners treated their slaves well by making sure they had decent food, clean houses, and warm clothes to wear. Other planters spent little time caring about these things. They were determining to get the most work possible from their slaves. Slaves worked from sunup to sundown, at least sixteen hours a day. They sometimes suffered whippings and other cruel punishments. Owners thought of them as valuable property, that way the owners wanted to keep their human property healthy and as productive as they can. Keeping slaves families together was very difficult to do because slaves were considered as