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The life of a slave

The life of a slave. Alexandra Zenon. 1690. The year in which slavery began in the United States. With 20 African Americans brought to the City of Jamestown, Virginia. Slavery increases. By the year 1850 3.2 million African Americans were slaves in the United States.

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The life of a slave

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  1. The life of aslave Alexandra Zenon

  2. 1690 The year in which slavery began in the United States. With 20 African Americans brought to the City of Jamestown, Virginia

  3. Slavery increases • By the year 1850 3.2 million African Americans were slaves in the United States.

  4. “as the slaves come down to Fida from the inland country they are put into a booth or prison…surgeons examine them, to the smallest member, men and women being stark naked…such as are allowed good and sound are set on one side… marked on the breast with a red-hot iron… the branded slaves after this are returned to their former booths where they await shipment, sometimes 10- 15 days”

  5. “they were packed aboard the slave ships, in spaces not much bigger than coffins, chained together in the dark, wet slime on the ships bottom, choking in the stench of their own excrement” pg 28. • These were the conditions slaves had to endure while awiating to be sold for the right price.

  6. Slaves lived different lives depending on their work. Working from sun up to sun down eating food that wasn’t even good enough for animals to consume. Living with many other slaves in small shacks suffering tremendous heat in the summer and vicious colds in the winter

  7. In order to ensure that slaves did the most amount of work possible, they had overseers to look after them, these oversees were often cruel and would beat them to make them work faster. • A driver was often used instead of an overseer, the driver was a slave himself who was given better privileges to watch over the slaves and ensure that they work. Drivers were usually viewed with hatred

  8. Slavery Codes • Codes were created to establish the rights and wrongs of slavery. • Slaves were allowed to be given away as gifts, to pay debts, or as prizes • Slaves were whipped for misbehaving and for not doing their job accordingly • Slaves were not allowed to be educated, any man caught teaching a slave would be fined $500 and up to 6 months in jail

  9. Slavery codes cont.. • Any slave man committed of raping a white woman was sentenced to death, while any white man committed of raping a slave woman was only guilty of trespassing private property. • Slave women were raped constantly by white men, but cases were never reported.

  10. Underground railroad In the end of the 18th century. A system was used to help slaves escape to the northern states where they could be free. Both blacks and whites would help fugitives escape. In 1831 this system was named Underground Railroads after the emerging railroads

  11. The travel to freedom in the underground tunnels was not an easy voyage. Slaves first had to escape the slaveholder with the help of members from the underground railroad, they then had to travel 10 to 20 miles to the next station where they would eat and rest while awaiting a message that would tell them which station was available next.

  12. Many slaves did not reach freedom. • It could take them 24 hours by train, to years by foot if escaping from the deep south. • Most became sick and were not able to continue the journey • If they were caught they would be returned to their owners where they would receive a harsh punishment to teach them never to attempt an escape again.

  13. Freedom • Most slaves escaped to Canada where they would not have to worry about the Fugitive Slave Act. • There they could live their lives in peace but always tormented by the memories of their slave years. • Thanks to the underground railroad the southern states and slave holders lost approximately 100,000 slaves between the years 1810 and 1850

  14. The end of servitude • Jan 1st 1863 President Abraham Lincoln promised all slaves through his emancipation proclamation that they would be freed once the North won the Civil War • On December 6th 1865 The Thirteenth Amendment was issued freeing all slaves in the United States.

  15. However for many slaves living in the deep south freedom did not come on that 1st of January. • Most plantation owners did not inform slaves of their freedom and so they continued serving until word finally spread. • It was difficult to adjust for many African Americans, most had no families or acquaintances outside of their farm, but they welcomed freedom with open arms. And their new lives began.

  16. References • Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print. • Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. <http://www.infoplease.com/timelines/slavery.html>. • "Slave Life and Slave Codes." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/27b.asp>. • PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2944.html>.

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