Slavery in the South

80% to 90% of slaves went on to work the fields. On plantations, slaves were ordered around by field bosses.

10% to 20% of slaves worked in the house of their owner. They cooked, cleaned, and raised the masters children.

Other slaves developed skills as carpenters, bricklayers, and blacksmiths. These slaves were often rented out.

For slaves, full time work began about at age 12, and went on till very old age or death. Slaves that were disobedient were often whipped. In Virginia, if a slave owner beat his slave to death, it was not considered murder if the beating was being given out as a punishment.

Slaves wove baskets and made pottery as they had done back in Africa. They kept musical traditions and told stories about their ancestors. Because families were torn apart, the slaves created new families with the people they lived with. If a parent were sold, other slaves would fill the role.

African influence remained particularly strong in South Carolina and Georgia. Many of the slaves that came here had experience with growing rice. Rice soon became the main cash crop. Many of these slaves came from the same region in South Africa.

Another cash crop that was raised in the South was indigo.

Indigo dye is an organic compound with a distinctive blue color. Historically, indigo was a natural dye extracted from plants, and this process was important economically because blue dyes were once rare.

Resistance and Revolt Many Africans

resisted by: Faking illness Breaking tools And slowing down

on work Some slaves

revolted.

The Stono Rebellion, in 1739, occurred as 20 slaves, led by an Angolan named Jemmy, in Charles Town took weapons and began killing planter families. The unrest was the result word going out that the Spanish and English were at war. The Spanish had been granting freedom, to disrupt the English colonial governments, to small groups of slaves who had made their way down to St. Augustine Florida.

The people in Charlestown, slaves included, heard about this. A Security Act was implemented in Charlestown that required all white men to carry firearms on Sundays. The reason for this was that Slaves had been able to go out freely and work on their own on Sundays. Fear of insurrection had led to this Security Act being implemented.

The group raided a store that sold guns and ammunitions, and killed the shopkeepers. They then headed south , killing most of the whites they came across. The slaves continued to march while beating drums, calling on other slaves to join them. The group grew to up to a hundred strong.

But they were caught and executed by a militia. The southern colonists created the Negro Act to enforce laws against the slaves. Slaves were no longer able to grow their own food, assemble, earn money, or learn to read.

Despite the severe punishment that escape attempts brought, a number of slaves tried to run away. The runaway notices published in the various newspapers throughout Virginia show that from 1736 to 1801, at least 1,279 enslaved men and women in that state took to flight.