By the 1700s, it was usually easy to discern an urban slave from their rural counterparts by their clothing. The elite slave owning society in the city often felt a sense of social pressure to dress their servants stationed in the city in finer clothing than they did for those that they enslaved on the plantation. Johann Martin Boltzius, a minister throughout Georgia and South Carolina, described the clothing of slaves as he witnessed in the city: Whites on the lower rung of the economic ladder often complained about the quality of clothing that was provided to slaves, especially those enslaved in the city. After the passage of the 1735 Negro Act in South Carolina that prohibited slaves from wearing fine clothing, whites openly protested …show more content…
It had more to do with the fact that whites lived in a class conscious society in New Orleans, Charleston, and Richmond, and other growing metropolitan areas. The growing perception was that for appearance sake, properly clothed slaves displayed their owner’s economic status and provided a sense of self-satisfaction in an owner that properly took care of their slaves; while a tattered slave represented a slave owner of improper taste. Joseph Ide, Esq, testified in support of abolishment and provided the following testimony regarding the food and clothing of those on the city compared to those on the …show more content…
Although some colonies had laws that prohibited the practice of allowing slaves to wear decent clothing, the elite society dictated their own self-prescribed way of living. Elijah Green, a slave freed upon emancipation in Charleston, recalled the hand-me-down clothing that he received during his teenage days as a "daily give servant": Some slaves purchased appealing attire with money they made when they self-hired in their free time. With money earned from odd jobs or by selling garden produce, they could purchase accessories and other personal goods.It became accepted for slaves to purchase and wear their clothes, considered holiday clothes – clothing worn during time off, Sundays, and holiday. In 1801, Ruth Bascom observed blacks in Norfolk Virginia, parading their clothes in the
South Carolina was one of the only states in which the black slaves and abolitionists outnumbered their oppressors. Denmark Vesey’s slave revolt consisted of over nine-thousand armed slaves, free blacks, and abolitionists, that would have absolutely devastated society in South Carolina for slave owners, and could have quite possibly been a major step towards the abolishment of slavery in the United states. Robertson succeeded in describing the harsh conditions of slaves in pre-civil war Charleston, South Carolina. This book also helped me to understand the distinctions between the different groups. These groups including the black slaves, free blacks, extreme abolitionists, and the pro-slavery communities.
Between 1800 and 1860 slavery in the American South had become a ‘peculiar institution’ during these times. Although it may have seemed that the worst was over when it came to slavery, it had just begun. The time gap within 1800 and 1860 had slavery at an all time high from what it looks like. As soon as the cotton production had become a long staple trade source it gave more reason for slavery to exist. Varieties of slavery were instituted as well, especially once international slave trading was banned in America after 1808, they had to think of a way to keep it going – which they did. Nonetheless, slavery in the American South had never declined; it may have just come to a halt for a long while, but during this time between 1800 and 1860, it shows it could have been at an all time high.
Within the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave” Douglass discusses the deplorable conditions in which he and his fellow slaves suffered from. While on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation, slaves were given a “monthly allowance of eight pounds of pork and one bushel of corn” (Douglass 224). Their annual clothing rations weren’t any better; considering the type of field work they did, what little clothing they were given quickly deteriorated. The lack of food and clothing matched the terrible living conditions. After working on the field all day, with very little rest the night before, they must sleep on the hard uncomfortably cramped floor with only a single blanket as protection from the cold. Coupled with the overseer’s irresponsible and abusive use of power, it is astonishing how three to four hundred slaves did not rebel. Slave-owners recognized that in able to restrict and control slaves more than physical violence was needed. Therefore in able to mold slaves into the submissive and subservient property they desired, slave-owners manipulated them by twisting religion, instilling fear, breaking familial ties, making them dependent, providing them with an incorrect view of freedom, as well as refusing them education.
During the period of time between 1789 and 1840, there were a lot of major changes occurring on the issue of slavery such as the impact it had towards the economy and the status of slaves in general. There were two types of African Americans slaves during the era, either doing hard cheap labor in a plantation usually owned by a white and being enslaved, or free. Undoubtedly, the enslaved African Americans worked vigorously receiving minimal pay, while on the other hand, the free ones had quite a different lifestyle. The free ones had more freedom, money, land/power, are healthier, younger and some even own plantations. In addition, in 1820 the Missouri compromise took into effect, which made it so states North of the 36°30′ parallel would be free and South would be slave and helped give way to new laws regarding the issue of slavery.
Therefore, nothing was wasted because the old clothing would then be turned into a square in a quilt for the winter. Since there was not central heat a blankets were always a winter necessity (Better Homes and Garden). The women would have get-togethers to exchange fabric, squares or to sew for special occasions. Women used this time to socialize and pass on their abilities and stories to the young girls and women. These gatherings became known as quilting bees (Better Homes and Garden). The wealthy felt that quilting was manual labor and unbecoming of a proper white woman. They paid poor white women to teach the slaves how to quilt (African American Quilts). Most quilts made by slaves were made for the slave owner (African American Quilts). Occasionally, the slave women were able to save enough fabric scraps to make their own quilts (VanNess). Quilting parties, similar to the quilting bee were important social events on the plantations and were enjoyed by men, women, and children. Some plantations did not permit these socials, so the slave women would work the quilts under the safety of the night. Due to the fact slave quilts were made from scraps, and heavily used, relatively few of those personal quilts have survived to be studied today
The slaves were only rationed a small amount of food that they had to try and preserve. In addition to preserving food, the slaves had to learn how to preserve their clothing. Douglass mentions how each year, the adult slaves were only given two shirts, one pair of pants , one pair of...
After the Civil War, in 1865, the southern plantation owners were left with minimal labor. They were bitter over the outcome of the war and wanted to keep African Americans under their control. Black Codes were unique to the southern states, and each state had their own variation of them. In general, the codes compelled the freedmen to work. Any unemployed black could be arrested and charged with vagrancy. The ones that did work had hours, duties, and types of jobs dictated to them. Codes were also developed to restrict blacks from becoming successful. They discouraged owning and selling property, and raising and selling their own crops. Blacks were often prohibited from entering town without written permission from a white employer. A black found after 10 p.m. without a note could be arrested. Permission was even required from a black’s employer to live in a town! Section 5 of the Mississippi Black Codes states that every second January, blacks must show proof of residence and employment. If they live in town, a note from the mayor must b...
Clothing is a necessity that is need throughout life for protection and comfort, especially in a lifestyle that leads one to have direct contact with the outside environment and a life in the fields. With the low income that a sharecropper and his family had to work with, being fashionable was not one of their top priorities. Even having sufficient clothing at all was a struggle for the family. The clothing that they did have was “coarse, crude, and not warm enough” (Gentry 138). The typical attire for men was “denim overalls”, and...
During the time of reconstruction, the 13th amendment abolished slavery. As the Nation was attempting to pick up their broken pieces and mend the brokenness of the states, former slaves were getting the opportunity to start their new, free lives. This however, created tension between the Northerners and the Southerners once again. The Southerners hated the fact that their slaves were being freed and did not belong to them anymore. The plantations were suffering without the slaves laboring and the owners were running out of solutions. This created tension between the Southern planation owners and the now freed African Americans. There were many laws throughout the North and the South that were made purposely to discriminate the African Americans.
The life of a plantation mistress changed significantly once her husband left to join the Southern army. A majority of them stayed right on the land even if they were rich enough to move to a safer place. While there, the women and children would do a plethora of things: plant gardens, sew, knit, weave cloth, spin thread, process and cure meat, scour copper utensils, preserve and churn butter, and dip candles. Another important chore for a plantation mistress was caring for all the slaves. This included providing food, clothing, shelter, and medical care.1 Since money was scarce, "everything was made at home" according to one Southern woman. In a letter to her sister, she added that they "substituted rice for coffee . . . honey and homemade molasses for sugar . . . all we wore was made at home. Shoes also. You would be surprised to see how neat people looked."2 Even a ten-year-old girl wrote in her diary how she would have to go to work to help her mother: "Mama has been very busy to day and I have been trying to help her all I could." This same little girl cooked for her family and cared for her little sister while her mother was busy keeping the plantation alive. 3 Not only did the women stay busy trying to keep...
The first arrivals of Africans in America were treated similarly to the indentured servants in Europe. Black servants were treated differently from the white servants and by 1740 the slavery system in colonial America was fully developed.
The ante-bellum south is referred to as the Old South; south of the Cotton Kingdom and plantation slavery. The Old South did not last long but received the term, ‘Old’ in order to distinguish the Old South from the New South. Slavery in the Old South was practiced by the white man to assure subordination of the Negro’s and to determine their status, or ‘place’. The white supremacy view of life, along with the injustices of exploitation can be traced back to the old pro-slavery argument, developed by the Anglo-Saxon (Woodward, 11). Slavery in the Old South required daily interracial contact from both sides of the races such as, supervision, maintenance of order, and physical and medical care of slaves. House servants were a prime example of this type of interracial contact. Bonds of intimacy and affection were also present between races due to house servants living in the same home, attending the same church, and sharing in the family’s conversation (Woodward, 12). House servants were the only slaves to receive this type of association, which overall consisted of a very small proportion. The field hands, however, received the harsher side of slavery. Slavery in the Old South was a ‘system’ in which segregation would only pose an issue, or inconvenience. There also were a few hundred thousand Negroes within the slave states who were free, or quasi-free; not established by slavery. These Negroes received treatment relatively close to slavery, foreshadowing segregation (Woodward, 13).
Slavery in the eighteenth century was worst for African Americans. Observers of slaves suggested that slave characteristics like: clumsiness, untidiness, littleness, destructiveness, and inability to learn the white people were “better.” Despite white society's belief that slaves were nothing more than laborers when in fact they were a part of an elaborate and well defined social structure that gave them identity and sustained them in their silent protest.
Shaw, Madelyn. “Slave Cloth and Clothing Slaves: Craftsmanship, Commerce, and Industry.” Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts. Mesda Journal. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. .
The quality of life for varied for African American slaves, depending on multiple factors. Most slaves in the lower south lived on cotton plantations, where they were either field slaves or house slaves. Field slaves worked six days a week, sun up until sun down. Slaves working on these plantations lived in run-down shacks with dirt floors and very little furniture, if any at all. Field slaves had multiple different responsibilities on the plantation, as plantations typically consisted of several different types of crops to tend to. Although cotton was the leading cash crop, other crops on the plantations consisted of rice, corn, sugarcane, and tobacco. While many black slaves planted and harvested these crops, other types of labor consisted of clearing new land, digging ditches, cutting and hauling wood, slaughtering livestock, and making repairs to buildings and tools. Despite all of this hard labor throughout the work day, slave women were still not finished working. The slave women were responsible for spinning, weaving, and sew...