Slavery - Auctions and Plantations

Question 1

What were the two methods of selling slaves?

Answer 1

Auction

Scramble

Question 2

What happened in the slave auction?

Answer 2

In the auction, an auctioneer sold the slaves individually or in lots (as a group), with the slaves being sold to the highest bidder.

Question 3

What happened in a “scramble”?

Answer 3

Here the slaves were kept together in an enclosure. Buyers paid the captain a fixed sum beforehand. Once all the buyers had paid, the enclosure gate was thrown open and the buyers rushed in together and grabbed the slaves they wanted. This was often a terrifying experience for the slaves.

Question 4

What happened to Slaves left unsold?

Answer 4

Slaves left behind were called ‘refuse’. They were sold cheaply to anyone who would take them, often leading to their quick death.

Question 5

What hours did Slaves typically work?

Answer 5

• Slaves worked from dawn until dusk.
• They only stopped for rest and food at breakfast and lunchtime.
• They would often still have chores to do before going to bed.
• During harvest time, slaves worked in shifts of up to 18 hours a day.

Question 6

What punishment was metered out to the slaves?

Answer 6

Slaves were whipped if it was thought they did not work hard enough. the number of lashes that they received depended upon the seriousness of their ‘crime’.

Question 7

Who was the boss of the slaves?

Answer 7

The Overseer.

Question 8

What types of jobs would slaves do? Name 5

Answer 8

1. sowing
2. hoeing
3. harvesting
4. cotton picking
5. cotton processing
6. ditch digging
7. spreading fertilisers
8. care of livestock [animals]
9. butchering, preserving meats

Question 9

What would Slaves do to add to their family’ rations?

Answer 9

Slaves also grew corn and other vegetables to feed themselves and caught fish in traps.

Question 10

From what age would girls start working on estates?

Answer 10

4 years old

Question 11

What kinds of jobs would girls aged between 12 and 19 be expected to do?

Answer 11

field work
stock work
domestic duties

Question 12

What kinds of jobs would mature women be expected to do?

Answer 12

midwives
nurses
housekeepers

Question 13

What kinds of jobs would children be expected to do?

Answer 13

The ‘weeding gang’ (they would weed the growing sugar cane in the fields)

The ‘grass gang’ (their job was to cut grass for the animals and feed them).

Question 14

What would happen to captured runaway slaves?

Answer 14

Captured runaways could be hanged or maimed.

Question 15

What was branding?

Answer 15

A hot poker with the master’s initials on it would be pushed onto a slave’s skin.

Question 16

What was a plantation?

Answer 16

A farm growing one crop – cotton, tobacco, sugar. This was where most African slaves would work.

Question 17

What were paddles?

Answer 17

Long bats with metal studs on that would be used to hit slaves.

Question 18

What was a House Slave?

Answer 18

A slave that would work within the master’s house cooking, cleaning or as a servant.

Question 19

What was a Field Slave?

Answer 19

A slave that would work on the cotton, tobacco and sugar fields.