Life of a Slave on the Plantation

Life of a Slave on the Plantation

African slavery started at the 16th century and ended in the 19th century. Slave life was the most brutal and disrespected period of America. When Africans first stepped foot on the slave ships coming to America things were bad. The white man beat, raped, and treated the black men like animals. Life on the plantation wasn’t any better. The slaves didn’t work for a paycheck, they worked for their lives. The black man had difficulties adapting to the environment, learning another language, and being a monogamous.

Most slaves came from the West African region. Disease, frailty and brutality, played a heavy part on of slaves dying on the ships. The slave ships landed in Maryland, Virginia, or Carolina. Once the slaves reached land they had to adjust to the environment in America. Adapting to the new country meant:

Europeans and Africans would encounter varieties of microorganisms foreign to them and would bring with them varieties that were new to America. So with red, white, and black men merging in this place, their bodies would have to make adjustments. (Nathan Irvin 58)

Europeans had trouble adapting to the shorelines. The Africans were amused by the illness of the Europeans. African immigrant wasn’t as vulnerable to the shoreline, because they were adapted to the shorelines in West Africa. They were most vulnerable to the malaria parasite. In time, they adapted to the parasite. Even though the African had some defenses, their body developed the sickle cell trait. Other fatal diseases were yellow fever, which is carried by mosquito and smallpox, a contagious disease carried by a human host. All white and black newcomers had to adapt to the new microorganisms coming into the country. It was hard to make medicine for the slaves, because they didn’t have the same herbs or plants in America.

Communication was a necessary tool between the Africans and the Europeans. To increase communications and reduce confusion, a language called linguae francae was developed. This is a blend of Portuguese, French and English. The slave owners and traders mixed the African tribes. The mixture of tongues helped make a new language. Children found it easy to mouth new sounds for old meanings. Older Africans were concerned that they were not being understood while trying to communicate in the new language. Some settlers didn...

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... a dirt floor or a wooden floor with cold air seeping through the cracks. Cabins usually had three to eight people living in one room. School life for the slaves was forbidden. The classes usually took place in an abandon one-room building or a church. The children sat on either benches or a log. They didn’t learn off of any blackboard or maps. Students learned how to write and read out of the New England Primer.

In Conclusion, the punishment of black slaves was no joke. To me there is nothing that the white man can say to me or give to me to make up for the brutality of my ancestors. Today we do not appreciate our freedom, we take advantage of it. If the white man took our freedom away only a small percent of us will survive. To me slavery was pure evil. Slavery was the cause of the Civil War deaths. America was built on the blood sweat and tears of slavery. If the white man didn’t have our help to raise their daughter or son they wouldn’t have survive. When the white man says today black man society is lazy. I think to myself about how my ancestors help raise their kids. How slaves were in their fields picking their cotton, feeding their kids and doing their housework.