SECTION

3 The Slave System

TEKS 7B, 7C, 10B, 23A, 23C, 23D, If YOU were there...
26A, 26B
You are a reporter for a newspaper in Philadelphia in the 1850s. You
What You Will Learn… are writing a series of articles about the slave system in the South.
To get background for your stories, you are planning to interview
Main Ideas
1. Slaves worked at a variety of some former slaves who now live in Philadelphia. Some have
jobs on plantations. bought their freedom, while others have successfully escaped
2. Life under slavery was dif-
ficult and dehumanizing. from slavery.
3. Slave culture centered
around family, community, What questions will you ask in your interviews?
and religion.
4. Slave uprisings led to stricter
slave codes in many states.

Building Background While most white southern families were

The Big Idea not slaveholders, the southern economy depended on the work of
The slave system in the South slaves. This was true not only on large plantations but also on smaller
produced harsh living condi-
tions and occasional rebellions.
farms and in the cities. Few chances existed for enslaved African
Americans to escape their hard lives.

Key Terms and People

folktales, p. 427
spirituals, p. 427 Slaves and Work
Nat Turner’s Rebellion, p. 428 Most enslaved African Americans lived in rural areas where they
Nat Turner, p. 428 worked on farms and plantations. Enslaved people on small farms
usually did a variety of jobs. On large plantations, most slaves were
assigned to specific jobs, and most worked in the fields. Most slave-
holders demanded that slaves work as much as possible. Supervisors
Use the graphic organizer online to known as drivers, who were sometimes slaves themselves, made sure
take notes on the slave system. that slaves followed orders and carried out punishments.

Working in the Field

Most plantation owners used the gang-labor system. In this system,
all field hands worked on the same task at the same time. They usu-
ally worked from sunup to sundown. Former slave Harry McMillan
had worked on a plantation in South Carolina. He recalled that the
field hands usually did not even get a break to eat lunch. “You had
to get your victuals [food] standing at your hoe,” he remembered.
Men, women, and even children older than about 10 usually did
the same tasks. Sickness and poor weather rarely stopped the work.
“The times I hated most was picking cotton when the frost was on
the bolls [seed pods],” recalled former Louisiana slave Mary Reynolds.
“My hands git sore and crack open and bleed.”

424 Chapter 13
Working in the Planter’s Home a free African American, was kidnapped in
Some slaves worked as butlers, cooks, or Washington, D.C. He spent 12 years as a slave
nurses in the planter’s home. These slaves until he finally proved his identity and gained
often had better food, clothing, and shelter his release.
than field hands did, but they often worked
longer hours. They had to serve the planter’s
Living Conditions
family 24 hours a day. Enslaved people often endured poor living
conditions. Planters housed them in dirt-
Working at Skilled Jobs floor cabins with few furnishings and often
On larger plantations, some enslaved Afri- leaky roofs. The clothing given to them was
can Americans worked at skilled jobs, such usually simple and made of cheap, coarse
as blacksmithing or carpentry. Sometimes fabric. Some slaves tried to brighten up their
planters let these slaves sell their services to
other people. Often planters collected a por-
tion of what was earned but allowed slaves to
keep the rest. In this way, some skilled slaves
earned enough money to buy their freedom
from their slaveholders. For example, Wil-
liam Ellison earned his freedom in South
Carolina by working for wages as a cotton
gin maker. For years, he worked late at night
and on Sundays. He bought his freedom
with the money he earned. Eventually, he
was also able to buy the freedom of his wife
and daughter.

R eading C heck Summarizing What were some

types of work done by enslaved people on plantations?

Life Under Slavery

Generally, slaveholders viewed slaves as
property, not as people. Slaveholders bought
and sold slaves to make a profit. The most
common method of sale was at an auction.
The auction itself determined whether fami-
lies would be kept together or separated.
Sometimes a buyer wanted a slave to fill a
specific job, such as heavy laborer, carpenter,
or blacksmith. The buyer might be willing to
A Nurse’s Work
pay for the slave who could do the work, but
Slaveholders’ children were often cared
not for that slave’s family. Families would
for by enslaved women. At the time,
then be separated with little hope of ever women who looked after children were
getting back together. called nurses. This nurse is posing with
her slaveholder’s child in about 1850.
Slave traders sometimes even kidnapped
free African Americans and then sold them As a slave, what might have happened to
this woman’s family?
into slavery. For example, Solomon Northup,

The south 425

 clothing by sewing on designs from
A Slave’s Daily Life
discarded scraps of material. In this
way, they expressed their individu-
ality and personalized the clothing
assigned to them by the planters.
Likewise, many slaves did what
they could to improve their small
food rations. Some planters allowed
slaves to keep their own gardens for
vegetables, and chickens for eggs.
Other slaves were able to add a lit-
tle variety to their diet by fishing or
picking wild berries.
Typical Daily Schedule:
Punishment and Slave Codes
3:00 a.m. Out of bed,
Some planters offered more food or
better living conditions to encour- tend animals
age slaves’ obedience. However, most 6:00 a.m. Prayers
slaveholders used punishment instead. 7:00 a.m. Start work
Some would punish one slave in front 12:00 p.m. Lunch
of others as a warning to them all.
1:00 p.m. Return to work
Harry McMillan recalled some of the
punishments he had witnessed. 7:00 p.m. Dinner
8:00 p.m. Return to work
“The punishments were whipping, put- 11:00 p.m. Lights out
ting you in the stocks [wooden frames to
lock people in] and making you wear irons and
a chain at work. Then they had a collar to put
round your neck with two horns, like cows’ horns,
so that you could not lie down . . . Sometimes
Slave Culture
they dug a hole like a well with a door on top. Many enslaved Africans found comfort in
This they called a dungeon keeping you in it two their community and culture. They made time
or three weeks or a month, or sometimes till you for social activity, even after exhausting work-
died in there. ” days, in order to relieve the hardship of their
—Harry McMillan, quoted in Major Problems in the History lives. Although they were forced to immigrate
of the American South, Volume I, edited by Paul D. Escott and
David R. Goldfield to the United States, their culture is one of the
foundations of the current national identity,
To further control slaves’ actions, many
especially in the worlds of music and religion.
states passed strict laws called slave codes.
Some laws prohibited slaves from traveling
A cademic far from their homes. Literacy laws in most
Family and Community
V ocabulary southern states prohibited the education of Family was the most important aspect of
aspect part slave communities, and many slaves feared
slaves. Alabama, Virginia, and Georgia had
laws that allowed the fining and whipping separation more than they feared punishment.
of anyone caught teaching enslaved people Josiah Henson never forgot the day that he
to read and write. and his family were auctioned. His mother
begged the slaveholder who bought her to
R eading C heck Summarizing How did slave- buy Josiah, too. The slaveholder refused, and
holders control slaves? Henson’s entire family was separated.

426 Chapter 13
 The lives of slaves revolved around the work that was required
of them. For many, this meant doing the backbreaking work of
harvesting and loading tons of cotton. Most slaves found hope
and a short escape from their daily misery in Sunday church
services. Others sought to escape permanently and ran away,
hoping to reach the freedom of the North. A failed escape
attempt, however, could result in a cruel whipping—or worse.

What different aspects of slavery are shown in these pictures?

The Impact
Enslaved parents kept their heritage alive Some slaves sang spirituals, emotional
Today
by passing down family histories as well as Christian songs that blended African and
The musical
African customs and traditions. They also European music, to express their religious
influence of these
told folktales, or stories with a moral, to teach beliefs. For example, “The Heavenly Road” inspirational
lessons about how to survive under slavery. reflected slaves’ belief in their equality in the slave songs can
be heard today in
Folktales often included a clever animal char- eyes of God.
gospel music.
acter called a trickster. The trickster—which
often represented slaves—defeated a stronger “Come, my brother, if you never did pray,
I hope you pray tonight;
animal by outwitting it. Folktales reassured
For I really believe I am a child of God
slaves that they could survive by outsmarting
more powerful slaveholders.
As I walk on the heavenly road. ”
—Anonymous, quoted in Afro-American Religious History,
Religion edited by Milton C. Sernett

Religion also played an important part in

Slaves blended some aspects of their
slave culture. By the early 1800s many slaves
traditional African religions with those of the
were Christians. They came to see them-
Christianity that the slaveholders followed.
selves, like the slaves in the Old Testament, as
They worshipped in secret, out of sight of
God’s chosen people, much like the Hebrew
slaveholders. Some historians have called
slaves in ancient Egypt who had faith that
slave religion the invisible institution.
they would someday live in freedom.

The south 427

 Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Slave Nat Turner led a revolt against white slave-
holders in 1831. This is a map of his route and a
depiction of his capture.
ATLANTIC
OCEAN

Nat Turner’s route

House or plantation
Hiding place VIRGINIA
0 3 6 Miles

0 3 6 Kilometers
HRW Middle School American History
ah06se_c12loc010ca.ai
Nat Turner Slave Rebellion Locator Map
Map Area: 6p6 wide x 10p9 high
Second cave
Captured Final proof: 08/18/04 Cypress
October 30, 1831 Approved 11/10/04 Bridge
First cave
August 23, 1831
Most of the rebel-
ling slaves are
SOUTHAMPTON captured or killed
COUNTY at James Parker’s
August 21, 1831
Turner meets with plantation. Turner
other slaves and escapes.
plans to revolt. NORTH CAROLINA

ANALYSIS
skill Analyzing Visuals
1. Location Where did Nat Turner’s Rebellion take place?
2. Movement How many days did it take to capture Nat
Turner?

merican History Seeds of Rebellion Slave Uprisings

Maintaining their own religious beliefs and Although violent slave revolts were rela-
5p high practices was only one way in which enslaved tively rare, white southerners lived in fear of
istory people resisted slaveholders’ attempts to con- them. Two planned rebellions were stopped
trol them completely. In small ways, slaves before they began. Gabriel Prosser planned a
rebelled against the system daily. Sometimes rebellion near Richmond, Virginia, in 1800.
they worked slower to protest long hours in Denmark Vesey planned one in Charleston,
the fields. Other times they ran away for a South Carolina, in 1822. Local authorities
few days to avoid an angry slaveholder. Some executed most of those involved in planning
slaves tried to escape permanently, but most these rebellions. Though Vesey was executed
left only for short periods, often to go and as the leader of the Charleston conspiracy,
visit relatives. several accounts written after his death by
Gaining freedom by escaping to the anti-slavery writers claimed he was a hero.
North was hard. If discovered, slaves were The most violent slave revolt in the
captured and sent back to their slavehold- country occurred in 1831 and is known as
ers, where they faced certain punishment or Nat Turner’s Rebellion . Nat Turner, a slave
death. However, thousands of enslaved peo- from Southampton County, Virginia, believed
ple succeeded in escaping. that God had told him to end slavery. On an
R eading C heck Summarizing How did August night in 1831, Turner led a group of
slaves’ religious beliefs affect their attitudes slaves in a plan to kill all of the slaveholders
toward slavery? and their families in the county. First, they

428 Chapter 13
attacked the family that held Turner as a slave. Primary Source
Soon they had killed about 60 white people in
the community. Letter
More than 100 innocent slaves who were Nat Turner’s Rebellion
not part of Turner’s group were killed in an
In 1831 a white southerner who had escaped
attempt to stop the rebellion. Turner himself the rebellion wrote a letter describing the
led authorities on a chase around the coun- mood of the area where Nat Turner had The author believes
tryside for six weeks. He hid in caves and in killed slaveholders. no one in the county
has been through a
the woods before he was caught and brought
to trial. Before his trial, Turner made a confes- “ The oldest inhabitants of our county
have never experienced such a distress-
worse event.

sion. He expressed his belief that the revolt

ing [terrible] time, as we have had since
was justified and worth his death: “I am will- Sunday night last. The [slaves], about
ing to suffer the fate that awaits me.” Turner fifteen miles from this place, have
was executed on November 11, 1831. After massacred from 50 to 75 women and
the rebellion, many states strengthened their children, and some 8 or 10 men. Every
The author
slave codes. The new codes placed stricter house, room and corner in this place is
says that many
control on enslaved people. Despite resistance, full of women and children, driven from
people went into
slavery continued to spread. home, who had to take to the woods, hiding when the
until they could get to this place. We ­rebellion began.
R eading C heck Finding Main Ideas are worn out with fatigue [tiredness].
”
What was Nat Turner’s Rebellion, and what —Richmond Enquirer, quoted in
The Southampton Slave Revolt of 1831
happened as a result? by Henry I. Tragle

SUMMARY AND PREVIEW Several groups ANALYSIS

of African Americans attempted to end slav- skill  ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES

ery by rebellion. All of the attempts failed. What emotions do you think the author of this letter
In the next chapter you will read about was feeling?
efforts to reform American society.

Section 3 Assessment ONLINE QUIZ

Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People Critical Thinking

1. a. Identify What different types of work were done 5. Evaluating Review your notes on the slavery
by slaves on plantations? system. Then use a graphic organizer like the one
b. Elaborate Do you think that skilled slaves had shown below to identify the two most important
advantages over other slaves? Why or why not? reasons enslaved people challenged the system as
2. a. Describe What were living conditions like for well as how they did so.
most slaves? Reasons for Ways of
b. Summarize In what different ways did slave- Challenging Slavery Challenging Slavery
holders encourage obedience from their slaves?
3. a. Recall What was the purpose of African
American folktales and spirituals?
b. Explain How did slaves try to maintain a sense
of community? Focus on Writing
4. a. Describe What was the outcome of Nat 6. Describing the Life of Slaves Add notes about the
Turner’s Rebellion? life of slaves to your notebook. What would it have
b. Elaborate What do you think were some reasons been like to be a slave? How would it have felt to
why slaves rebelled? have been separated from your family?

The south 429