The captive's experience and slave resistance Flashcards
explain the process of selling slaves to the plantations
- Before Africans were sold they would be cleaned to make the look healthy and sometimes grey hair would be dyed to try make the slave look younger
- Slaves that had been whipped during the middle passage often had scars so sellers would try to cover these up often using oil and other materials so the slave didn’t look rebellious which would put people off buying them
- Before slaves were sold there was often advertisement in the form of posters giving the date and time of sales and describing some of the slaves and the skills they possessed
- Before a slave was sold the buyer would inspect them they would look at their teeth and they would be touched and prodded to check how fit they were
- Slaves were sold in two ways 1. Scramble - they would be sold at a fixed price and buyers would take as many as they wanted 2. Auction - slaves would be sold to the highest bidder
- Slave sales often meant families were split up but mothers were meant to stay with their children up to a certain age but often only 1 member of the family would be bought and they may never see one another again
describe the living and working conditions on the plantations
- Slaves lived in poor quality huts which were overcrowded. Furniture was very poor with beds often being made of rags or straw
- The hot conditions of the Caribbean exhausted the slaves, they would often die from overworking
- Slaves were watched by overseers, they would often get harshly punished for very little.
- Most slaves worked in sugarcane fields. This was hard dangerous work as snakes lived amongst the crops and accidents could happen with the sharp tools they used
- Slaves were forced to give up their old religion and practise christianity instead
- Slaves were forced to work for 12 hours a day with only half hour break
- A team of domestic slaves worked in the main house, they cooked and cleaned for the plantation owner
explain the punishments given to slaves
- The most common form of punishment was whipping often other slaves were forced to watch or sometimes one of the slaves had to whip the other
- Other punishments were not being given food or forced to work long hours and slaves who tried to escape were often branded
- Sometimes slaves were forced to wear a punishment collar or face masks these caused pain and embarrassed and prevented the slave from eating and sleeping
- Female slaves were often sexually abused and raped by the plantation owner or his workers
- Sometimes a slave was hanged, burned or had limbs amputated
- As punishment some slaves were sent to a plantation far away or have their family sold so they could never see their loved ones again
how did slaves resist on plantations
- Some slaves refused to take their slave name
- Domestic slaves would spit in the food and drinks of their masters
- Slaves played dumb with their masters and would pretend they could not understand english
- They would kill the plantation animals
- They would break the tools they were given to work with
- They would refuse to eat
- They would run away
- Slaves would refuse to have children
- Speaking their own African/ tribal dialect
explain why slaves found it hard to resist on the plantation
1.Slave owners put up posters describing runaways, making it harder for them to remain free
2. Slaves were often tired and hungry, so did not have the energy to resist
2. They would receive harsh punishments if they were caught revolting
3. Black slaves were easily spotted off plantations due to the colour of their skin, it was uncommon to see slaves unaccompanied by an overseer or plantation owner
4. The whites had guns but the slaves had no weapons
5. They would be hunted down, making it hard for them to remain free
6. Their family might be punished if they run away/they could be separated by their family
7. Many slaves thought it was best to stay on the plantation because they had no money, food or place to go once they left
