SLAVERY IN COLONIAL AMERICA
Introduction
Back in colonial times slaves were whipped if they did something wrong. Perhaps on the Middle Passage which you will learn about they couldn’t wait to get off the Middle Passage because of how bad it was. Also when they got off the Middle Passage they were sold which is crazy. Also you will learn how the slaves were treated like dirt. Those are some of the topics you will learn in this Article.
Chapter 1
When Slavery Began
Millions of West Africans were taken into slavery. On the Middle Passage and always slaves were treated like dirt and it was like a nightmare to them. All of them had shackles on them and so it was hard to move. Many of them died along the passage they either tried committing suicide by not eating or jumping over board.
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| This was how slaves were kept during Middle Passage |
But if they were caught trying suicide then they would have to suffer the consequences. If they tried jumping overboard and got caught they would go on little boats and catch them and they would get whipped. And if they tried to starve themselves to death and they got caught then they would burn their lips with hot coal. They did not want the slaves to die because if they did then that would mean losing money.
On the way to the ship the slaves had to walk hundreds of miles just to the ship. They called it the Middle Passage because it was the middle part of the slave trade process. The passage took 5-12 weeks. Many people died from sickness because on the ship there was rats, fleas, and lice climbing all over the ship and it was very hot and dirty. Also if some of the slaves were thrown overboard then the sharks would feed on the bodies. Many slaves had never seen white skin and they thought about quite horrific things about what the white people would do to the slaves. Some even thought that the white people were going to boil them alive. Also so since they were lying down the on the floor they had sores covering their bodies.
When all the slaves got there they were split up and the farmers did not care about their families splitting. Slaves were sold at plantation and farmers would rush in and pick the slaves that they wanted.
Chapter 2
Slave Auctions
Sometimes slaves were sold at ”scrambles“ which means all of the slaves were sold at the same price on the plantations. If there was a slave auction somebody would announce it. If the slaves were getting sold the farmers would always check their back for whip marks because if their was whip marks they would not want them because they are getting whipped that means they are doing the wrong thing.
Slave auctions was when slaves were getting sold by auction. That means the person that bids the most money on that slave gets that slave. Slaves back then were lots of money. A healthy 18 year-old slave in 1845 was $650. Which in today’s money is about $14,500 today. If they were sold five years later in 1850 that same slave could have been sold for $1000. Slavery in America started when the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619.
Chapter 3
Treatment for the slaves
Slaves were treated like garbage. They had a bad diet and no care for their health unless their master did not want to lose money. They were often walking for several miles in the hot sun. The slaves lived in rough huts and sleeping on a dirt floor.
Their master would control them by whipping them. Once a slave started working on a plantation they would not live a long life because of the hard work and the way they got treated.
What amazed me is that the thing that slaves never got was just a simple thank you to them. Especially after all that hard work they did. They did not choose that life, but yet they still dedicated their life to it.
The government allowed physical abuse so they did that to their slaves. Now today physical abuse is illegal. If slaves were lucky sometimes their master’s would treat them more like humans and not just like dirt and like pheasants. Slaves monthly allowance was only a little meal of corn.
Conclusion
Slavery had quite a horrific impact on the colonial time period. Nobody had a choice to be a slave or not they were forced to be a slave. Slaves were not treated like humans at all. Plus after all that work their master never were thankful. How would the world be different if slavery never had existed?
