Life on the Plantations Flashcards
What is platation?
An estate on which crops such as coffee, sugar and tobacco are grown
What does a overseer do?
A person who supervises workers
What is an auction?
A public sale in which goods or properties are sold to the highest bidder
What is a scramble?
A slave trader would set a fixed price for his slaves. At a given signal, usually a horn or a drumbeat, the buyers would rush into the cage and grab the slaves that they liked the best.
Once sold, slaves were branded with what?
A hot iron that left a scar usually in the shape of their owner’s initials
5 jobs that slaves would do
- Harvesting
- Fishing
- Field hand
- Laundry Maid
- Butcher
How were plantations different from farms in Europe?
They couldn’t grow some crops
How many hours did slaves work in the fields at harvest time?
16 hours - sunrise to night fall with about a 30 minute break for lunch
What percentage of field hands were woman?
60%
What happened to the sugar cane before it was cut?
- Once it is grown it has to be harvested.
- They set fire to it and then trim it once the fire has gone out
- They work in pairs
- It goes on for many weeks
- Then it goes to the factory
- Sugar crystals begins to form
- They boil the sugar which is a hard job
Why was it dangerous to work in the sugar factory?
You could easily get burnt from stirring the sugar
Who built the plantation house and the slave houses?
The slaves
Why was working in the plantation house better than working in the fields?
You get better food and shelter with less heat and sun
How could slaves sometimes make some money?
By doing extra jobs
Punishments for running away
- Executed
- Ears cut off
