Slaves in the South

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the slaves in the South. We have all heard the rumours about the conditions the slaves live in, their punishments, the types of work they do, the slave auctions, and their religious views. I decided to travel to the South and discover the truth behind southern slaves.

I began my journey at the ports where the slaves had travelled for eight to ten weeks. From there, they were washed down; their names were changed and the slaves were then sold. Slaves could be sold at any time like a piece of property. Children as young as six could be slaves and they could be sold separately from the mothers.

I witnessed a man purchase a small boy who I later found out was called Edwin. The mother went by the name of Jane, she pleaded and pleaded, trying to convince him either to buy her and her daughter Mary, or not buy her son at all. She promised to be the most faithful slave. The man could not afford it, and when Jane was persistent in begging him, the man brought out his whip threatening to hit her. There were loud cries from all three. Edwin was to be sold alone.

After the slave auction, I moved onto learn about the types of work done by slaves. The slaves work on plantations growing tobacco, cotton or rice. Under the hot heat of the sun, the slaves work for long hours. Their day begins as early as 4 am, thirty minutes after they are woken, they are in the fields working. They have only one fifteen minute break and their day on the plantation ends when it is too dark to work. Sundays is there only day off.

I spoke to a slave owner who explained to me the benefits of slavery. He said that black labour was ideal for work on the plantations since it was similar to their climate home in Africa. Slaves work for long hours and are cheaper than white labour.

After a long hard day's work