Life, Death, and Familyin Afro-American Slave Societies

Sugar Plantations in the Caribbean● The plantation economy of the Caribbean required African slaves

○ European planters believed that Africans would be used to the climate○ Slaves were less costly to maintain than indentured servants or paid labourers○ Native American slaves were vulnerable to European diseases

■ African slaves had immunity to many of these pathogens

August

Sugar Plantations in the Caribbean● In the 1600s, the black population in the Caribbean rose dramatically● Island of Nevis

○ An English colony○ Black population went from 20% of the total to 80% as sugar replaced tobacco as the main

cash crop■ Treatment of slaves became harsher as white populations began to fear the larger black

population

Sugar Plantations in the Caribbean● In the field, African slaves spent hours in the sun, with overseers driving them

on with whips○ Their tasks included clearing land, planting and harvesting sugarcane, manuring, and weeding

● Inside the plantation works, conditions were often even worse than in the fields

○ The heat of the boiling house was even greater than that of the sun on the fields○ Hours were especially long at harvest time○ Death rate in the plantation was high due to overwork, poor working conditions, poor nutrition,

brutality, and disease■ Many plantation owners found it cheaper to import new slaves rather than care better for

existing slaves■ The Amelioration act in 1798 forced planters to improve conditions for their slaves

● Before this, little care was given for the well-being of the slaves

Latin America & The Caribbean● Of the at least 10 million slaves brought to the new world,

○ 47% went to the Caribbean Islands○ 38% went to Brazil○ 6% went to Spanish America○ 4.5% went to North America

● Sugar plantations in the Caribbean and Brazil required a constant supply of slaves

● The destruction of Native American populations in much of the New World mean that African slaves were in demand

○ In Mexico, the Native American population recovered enough to reduce demand for African slaves

Latin America & The Caribbean● Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, the existing slave population

declined at a rate of 2 to 4 percent each year○ The 4.7 million Africans imported to the Caribbean were reduced to 2 million by 1880

● New slaves were imported regularly○ In Brazil, in the 18th century, 15,000-20,000 were imported each year○ In the French Caribbean, 8,000-12,000○ About 5,000 per year to Spanish America

● The majority of the black population were slaves doing domestic or agricultural labor

Latin America vs Southern Colonies● Latin America was more tolerant of racial mixing than the Southern Colonies● Slaves were also more commonly manumitted

○ However, this was mostly simply done when a slave was no longer useful to its master, as a way to free the master from the responsibility of caring for the slave

● Death rates in Latin America were much higher than those in the Southern Colonies.

Reproduction and Life Expectancy● The Southern Colonies were unique in that the slave population grew rather

than decreasing○ However, birth rates in the southern colonies were only slightly higher than colonies in Latin

America. ○ The main reason for this was the sexual imbalance in slaves, resulting in greatly decreased

birth rates■ The overwhelming majority of slaves brought to Latin American colonies were men

● Male slaves who survived the first 5 years of their lives had a life expectancy of 38.4 years

○ Female slaves had it slightly better, with those who survived their first five years having a life expectancy of 39 years

■ Female slaves were also more commonly manumitted

Heinrich von Uchteritz● A German mercenary who was captured and sent to Barbados (colonized by

the English) as an indentured servant○ He wrote an account of his experience there, including descriptions of how the African slaves

lived

● Describing the slave huts, he said that they “look almost like dog-houses” ● He also described the food and drink of the slaves

○ “The slaves… drink only common water with sugar and lemon juice.”

● He also described the clothing of the slaves/indentured servants○ “In their dress, the Christians wear only light linen clothes which are finely made; the Negroes

and Indians, however, go about completely naked except for a cloth tied around their privities.”

Slave life and society in the Americas

Cole

African life pre trans-Atlantic slave trade● Heavy presence of Islam throughout Africa

○ African societies at the time of European contact were considerably sophisticated/civilized

● Social units usually determined by family/lineage○ Power of social units dictated by wealth, often in form of gold○ Identity of the individual was with their respective family or ancestry

● Important aspects of African life○ Education - encouraged○ Commerce - traders and merchants were common, held considerable status○ Faith - Islam and/or local religions, often times a mix

Cole

Trans-Atlantic slave trade●

○ The only trans-atlantic migration of its magnitude○ 10-15 million slaves forced to migrate, with 1-2 million casualties

■ 16th-17th centuries: slow pace, 2.2 million slaves shipped, slaves seen as commodity■ 18th-half of 19th century- slaves were vital to economy, when most of them were transported, 4/5ths of African Americans date

migration○ Participated in primarily by Dutch, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish

■ All countries transported slaves with the same methods and practices, just some countries transported them for longer than others■ Africans were packed on the ships, with very little room/comfort/attention, high mortality/disease rates - “tight packing”

● Half the room for convicts, soldiers or emigrants of the time period● Mortality rate around 20%, and after smallpox vaccination in second half of 18th century, about 5%

○ Would be considered epidemic for a non-mobile population○ Killers were dysentery, smallpox, measles, other highly communicable diseases

○ Brought into Americas from middle-men, usually African or Mulatto races○ Considered one of the greatest crimes against humanity

Cole

● African slave vessel○ “Tight packing” - fitting as many slaves

as possible so that profits are maximized upon arrival to the Americas

○ Produced by an illustrator to demonstrate optimal shipping

Effects of trans-Atlantic slave trade on slave life/society○ Influenced populations which were brought into the Americas

■ Discrimination of slave traders on sex and age of slaves● Young adult males were often preferred, among slave traders and slave buyers● African societies were more willing to give men, as women were usually agricultural workers/means of family

■ Discrimination based on nationality● Slave traders/buyers sometimes had preference on nationality, but often took what they could get

○ Influenced the afro-american societies/their function■ Populations in societies were askew

● Women were highly valued in African society/there was a preference for male slaves, so sexual imbalance occurred● Children were usually not shipped, due to their equal pricing to young adults but less work ability

■ Populations had difficulty maintaining themselves● Lack of women and children made it difficult to sustain a population, so importation continued to keep a steady slave

population● Often resorted to interbreeding with other populations to maintain a steady population, though rarely ever were sustained

populations purely african ■ Populations were unevenly distributed throughout the Americas

● African populations grew and declined in an area depending on the need for them/their labor● Later, in early 1800s, slave trade would be abolished for U.S. and Britain, and the French slave fleet would be destroyed during

the french revolution, making Portugal/Spain the primary traders○ Populations of slaves in these areas had already flourished (U.S.) or interbred (Caribbean) enough to self-reproduce

■ Origins of populations were constantly fluctuating● Origins of slave populations changed as European developments/trade establishments occurred in Africa

○ Gradually spreading down the west coast of Africa and eventually from south to north on Africa’s east coast●

Cole

Overall life in the Americas for slaves ● Latin America was the first place in the new world to be populated by African Slaves

○ Gradually spread northwards from Brazil along the east coast of the Americas○ FUN FACT: the largest African population outside of continental Africa is in Brazil

● Foundations for Afro-American societies○ Generally weak (culturally and demographically), due to the small population of Africans relative to Europeans initially settled in

these societies ○ African culture was virtually non-existent, also due to lack of African population relative to other populations, but gradually grew

stronger as more Africans came to the Americas

Cole

Overall life in the Americas for slaves (cont’d)● Societies contain(ed) a cultural blend of African, European, and native cultures

○ Much culture was brought from Africa, but due to many cultures being present in single settlements, traditional African cultures were not able to be fully reestablished

■ Cultural aspects brought to the Americas included music, dance, art, literature/speech, and religion○ The cultural blend of Africans to the local American culture--creolization

■ Included aspects of African, Native American, and European Culture● Dances and music of Latin America are infused with aspects of African culture, ex. Tango● Combinations of African, American, and European religion in Latin America, ex. voodoo-Haiti; Shango-Trinidad and Tobago,

Venezuela, and Brazil; Santería-Cuba and Puerto Rico; Kumina, Myal, Revivalist, and Ras Tafari-Jamaica; Umbanda, Macounda-Brazil

○ Cultural blend in a given area dependent on percentage of populations in the area■ Dominant culture in the area referred to as “high culture”

● Dominant due to the amount of population that its people made up■ Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, (majority of Latin America) African population was a vast minority

● Slave force in these areas was primarily comprised of Native Americans● Lead to less pronounced African culture in these areas, with more pronounced European culture

■ Caribbean islands had a majority African population● African culture more pronounced, slaves had more control over their lives and customs, despite efforts of the politically

empowered minority of Europeans ○ Ex. of limited control - Spoke blends of Western African languages with languages of their superiors: Dutch, French,

English, Spanish, Italian, not limited to lower classes

Cole

● Dance within an African American slave society○ Dance is an African dance○ Clothing of dancers is European○ Shows cultural blending within Afro-American

societies

● Cudgeling match between slaves○ Act of beating people with sticks originated within

many cultures worldwide○ “Cudgeling” is a Europeanized version of this○ Again, indicative of cultural blending within slave

societies in the Americas

Overall life in the Americas for slaves (cont’d)● Overview of life in Afro-American Societies

○ Very different from traditional African lifestyle■ Family was almost nonexistent for 1st generation slaves■ Slaves - living conditions much harsher and oppressive■ Identity was now with race rather than family/ancestry

○ Population/peopling■ Prominent majority of men■ Significant lack of women/children■ Difficulty sustaining population due to lack of means of reproduction

● Lead to occasional interbreeding with native populations within Afro-American societies● Lead to difficulty establishing a permanent, rooted population of blacks within the Americas

■ Uneven distribution of Africans throughout the Americas● Denser populations in areas where they were required more● Regional backgrounds of the Africans also changed, relating directly to the developments that the Europeans were making with

the slave trade○ Cultural aspects

■ Cultures of Afro-American societies often had elements of the traditional African culture that the slaves in said society originated from■ The cultures present in Afro-American slave societies were a combination of European, Native American, and African cultures

● The process of formation of these cultures was referred to as creolization■ The strength/dominance of any given culture directly correlated with the amount of the population people who practiced this culture

comprised● “High cultures” were considered high due to them being practiced by the majority of a population

Cole

Death/Legal Rights

Blake

The Journey across the Atlantic● About 10 to 15 million slaves were forced to cross the Atlantic.

○ During the journey about 1 to 2 million of them died. ■ A major cause of death was the disease called Dysentery. ■ The high rate of mortality on the occasional voyages were caused by outbreaks of

smallpox, measles, or other highly communicable diseases.■ The tight packing of slaves and different epidemiological zones guaranteed transmission

on disease.■ The longer distance the slaves had to travel could also translate to a higher death rate.■ The East African slave trade routes had an overall higher mortality rate than the West

African routes■ Some slaves would try to commit suicide by jumping off the boat when the opportunity

arose.

The Journey across the Atlantic continued ● Food and water were given to slaves in small amounts and were of poor

quality.● They were put into a very crowded space.● Slave traders carried out every possible health and sanitary procedure they

knew about, but few escaped this diseased environment unscathed.

Death rituals● Slaves demanded to be allowed to give their respects to the dead

○ Threat of rebellion prevented masters from refusing○ Funerals allowed slaves to gather and acknowledge their humanity

■ One of the few opportunities they had to celebrate their friends and family○ Respect for the dead translated into respect for the living○ Burial rituals brought from Africa were mixed in with the present culture’s rituals.

■ Slaves would be buried facing west due to an African tradition of being buried facing the direction in which the sun rises

■ Slaves often buried their dead with food to sustain them in their passage to the afterlife■ A practice, believed to be from Angola, was the placing of broken earthenware with the body of the

slave, to represent their broken body.

The Code Noir of the French● This was a code used in French colonies, including the French Caribbean

○ It provided some protection for slaves from cruel masters○ It also set regulations for slaves to follow

Article 1 section XXVI (26) of the Code Noir“Slaves who are not fed, clothed and supported by the masters according to what we have ordered by these articles will notify our attorney of this and give him their statements, based on which and even as a matter of course, if the information comes to him from elsewhere, the masters will be prosecuted by him and without cost, which we want to be observed for the cries [crieries] and barbarous and inhumane treatments of masters towards their slaves.”

This section states that a slave could take legal action against a master if they failed to meet the slave’s basic needs.

Article 1 section XIV (14) of the Code Noir“Masters are held to put into Holy Ground in cemeteries so designated [as will] their baptized slaves; and those who die without having received baptism will be buried at night in some field near the place where they died.”

This section means that baptized slaves had to be buried in cemeteries, but slaves that were unbaptized were not given this respect.

Article 1 section LIX (59) of the Code Noir“We grant to manumitted slaves the same rights, privileges and liberties enjoyed by persons born free; desiring that they merit this acquired liberty and that it produce in them, both for their persons and for their property, the same effects that the good fortune of natural liberty causes in our other subjects.”

This section means that freed slaves were granted all the same rights, privileges and liberties as free born people.

More on the Atlantic Crossing● African sellers of slaves demanded high-cost goods for their slaves

○ The most common of these would be textiles which originated in India○ Other goods would be iron bars, iron weapons, iron utensils, tobacco, alcohol

■ These goods added up to a considerable cost for the Europeans

● Because of the high cost, the idea of “tight-packing” where as many slaves as possible would be stored on a ship, is questionable

○ The idea of “tight-packing” involves a lack of care for the lives of the slaves■ Slave traders would probably want to keep their slaves alive rather than transport as

many as possible and suffer heavy losses because it would simply be unprofitable

● The Portuguese were the only Europeans who took slaves directly from the interior of Africa

○ The rest relied on African sellers or middlemen

Mortality on the Atlantic Crossing● The high rate of mortality on the occasional voyages were caused by

outbreaks of smallpox, measles, or other highly communicable diseases.○ The tight packing of slaves and different epidemiological zones guaranteed transmission of

disease.

● The longer distance the slaves had to travel could also translate to a higher death rate.

○ The East African slave trade routes had an overall higher mortality rate than the West African routes because of the longer journey to the Americas

● Some slaves would try to commit suicide by jumping off the boat when the opportunity arose.

Mortality on the Atlantic Crossing ● Despite the attempts of the Europeans to lower slave mortalities through

medical knowledge, they were unable to completely stop disease○ The Environment on the slave ships was ideal for the spread of pathogens

● While the death rate did drop to 5% after the use of the smallpox vaccine, this is still very high

○ A similar rate in a European peasant population would be considered of epidemic proportions

Freedom/Opportunities

Slaves found many ways to escape to freedom. Henry Box Brown had himself mailed to an abolitionist in Pennsylvania.

He went on to become a famous anti-slavery speaker.

Anaya

● Southern slaveholders and government opposed literacy in slaves for fear of forged documents or communication between other slaves for the purposes of revolt

○ Significant act in South Carolina legislation in 1740 in response to Stono Rebellion prohibiting any slave from learning or being taught to read and write

○ Exceptions were made for religious purposes in certain southern groups as Anglican ministers believed all should be able to learn from the Bible under the guidance of slave schoolmasters

○ It was not uncommon for slaves to learn from family members, fellow slaves, and in some cases even their masters or hired tutors.

○ White teachers were restricted to a predetermined curriculum that was deemed to be suitable for slaves by legislation

Education in the British Colonies

Education in British Colonies (continued)● The education of blacks was not banned in Northern regions

○ Formal schooling was more readily available to African-Americans by Quaker whites that encouraged and promoted literacy before and after the Revolutionary War with educational programs

○ Less than 8% of black Boston residents were illiterate by 1860○ Although education was not forbidden, it did not promise instruction as some black schools

struggled to support themselves because of financial challenges

Education in the British Colonies (continued again)● In both the antebellum North and South, blacks competed with labor demands to maintain a

consistent education○ Despite various challenges, both free blacks and ex-slaves used their literacy to publish

narratives of their experiences and generate support for abolition

Education elsewhere● In Spanish colonies education was not banned, but rather encouraged as the literacy in both Native

and slave populations was needed for religious conversion. This was also common in the sugar plantations in the Caribbean.

○ These systems greatly differed from the British colonies because although slaves and those of mixed and/or African descent faced opposition and challenges due to racial differences, it was still possible for individuals to become educated and obtain freedoms equivalent or nearly equivalent to a free individual

○ Although slaves or descendants of slaves could not technically hold an office in Spanish and Portuguese systems, individuals could be legitimized and given an education on a case-by-case basis

○ This opportunity for education was indirectly supported by and ordered from the Spanish monarchy which banned the enslavement of indigenous people and recognized their human rights with the Leyes de Burgos, or the Laws of Burgos

Freedom● Many slaves became free through manumission, the voluntary emancipation of a slave by a slave

owner○ Often released because slaves outlived their usefulness or were favored by their masters for

reasons that varied on an individual basis○ Some slaves were set free after the abolitionist movement began to gain traction and

public/international attention○ Occasionally freed while their masters were still alive but more often after their deaths as

some masters freed their slaves in their wills○ The children of interracial couplings were sometimes set free or favored as well

Freedom (continued)● As a great number of slaves were unable to buy their freedom in the British colonies, many

attempted to escape ○ Underground Railroad was a network of free people, ex-slaves, and many others that helped

slaves escape○ Some free people offered safe havens with their homes or locations on their property out of

sight of other people○ Assistance was given to escaping slaves in a variety of ways from simply turning a blind eye,

offering places to hide, or actively transporting people by boat, carriage, or pretending to be an owner running an errand with their servants.

Opportunity● Slaves all New World societies were not used only for run of the mill labor, as

many that were brought across the sea were skilled in some trade or another○ These specialized slaves were sometimes given more opportunity

■ Workers that held special skills were rewarded with things that ranged from money, free time, and better living conditions to legitimized careers and even outright freedom

Opportunity (continued)● In the British Colonies’ North, black individuals that had what was then the

privilege of freedom, could obtain educations and many became teachers and innovators, although none gained any real position in any office until much after the Civil War

● In the Spanish systems, it was much more common for slaves, after becoming legitimized or freed in one way or another to hold property or office