What did the woman do on plantations?

Girls worked on estates from the early age of four. Occupations for girls between the ages of 12 and 19 varied from field work and stock work, to domestic duties. Mature women often worked as midwives, nurses or housekeepers. In Jamaica, the majority of women between the ages of 19 and 54 were working in the fields.

1. What did plantation wives do?
2. What was life like on plantations?
3. What jobs did the slaves do on a plantation?
4. How did slaves try and resist slavery?
5. What did slaves do for fun?
6. What did slaves do to get punished?
7. Did slaves get days off?
8. How long did slaves usually live?
9. What did slaves eat?
10. Where is the Door of No Return located?
11. What did slaves do in the winter?
12. Who started slavery in Africa?
13. What are runaway slaves?
14. How were slaves captured in Africa?
15. How did slaves gain their freedom?

What did plantation wives do?

Their place on the plantation was primarily within the domestic sphere, yet they performed a variety of other tasks. Like most women, overseers' wives provided care for their families and did the washing, mending, cooking and cleaning for the household.

What was life like on plantations?

Life on the fields meant working sunup to sundown six days a week and having food sometimes not suitable for an animal to eat. Plantation slaves lived in small shacks with a dirt floor and little or no furniture. Life on large plantations with a cruel overseer was oftentimes the worst.

What jobs did the slaves do on a plantation?

Slaves had to work long hours. They had to do all manner of farm work. e.g. planting crops, harvesting crops, looking after animals, boiling crops such as sugar.

How did slaves try and resist slavery?

Many resisted slavery in a variety of ways, differing in intensity and methodology. Among the less obvious methods of resistance were actions such as feigning illness, working slowly, producing shoddy work, and misplacing or damaging tools and equipment.

What did slaves do for fun?

During their limited leisure hours, particularly on Sundays and holidays, slaves engaged in singing and dancing. Though slaves used a variety of musical instruments, they also engaged in the practice of "patting juba" or the clapping of hands in a highly complex and rhythmic fashion. A couple dancing.

What did slaves do to get punished?

Slaves were punished by whipping, shackling, beating, mutilation, branding, and/or imprisonment. Punishment was most often meted out in response to disobedience or perceived infractions, but masters or overseers sometimes abused slaves to assert dominance.

Did slaves get days off?

Slaves were generally allowed a day off on Sunday, and on infrequent holidays such as Christmas or the Fourth of July. During their few hours of free time, most slaves performed their own personal work.

How long did slaves usually live?

As a result of this high infant and childhood death rate, the average life expectancy of a slave at birth was just 21 or 22 years, compared to 40 to 43 years for antebellum whites. Compared to whites, relatively few slaves lived into old age.

What did slaves eat?

Weekly food rations -- usually corn meal, lard, some meat, molasses, peas, greens, and flour -- were distributed every Saturday. Vegetable patches or gardens, if permitted by the owner, supplied fresh produce to add to the rations. Morning meals were prepared and consumed at daybreak in the slaves' cabins.

Where is the Door of No Return located?

The House of Slaves (Maison des Esclaves) and its Door of No Return is a museum and memorial to the Atlantic slave trade on Gorée Island, 3 km off the coast of the city of Dakar, Senegal.

What did slaves do in the winter?

In his 1845 Narrative, Douglass wrote that slaves celebrated the winter holidays by engaging in activities such as "playing ball, wrestling, running foot-races, fiddling, dancing, and drinking whiskey" (p.

Who started slavery in Africa?

The transatlantic slave trade began during the 15th century when Portugal, and subsequently other European kingdoms, were finally able to expand overseas and reach Africa. The Portuguese first began to kidnap people from the west coast of Africa and to take those they enslaved back to Europe.

What are runaway slaves?

In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe enslaved people who fled slavery. ... Most slave law tried to control slave travel by requiring them to carry official passes if traveling without a master with them.

How were slaves captured in Africa?

The capture and sale of enslaved Africans

Most of the Africans who were enslaved were captured in battles or were kidnapped, though some were sold into slavery for debt or as punishment. The captives were marched to the coast, often enduring long journeys of weeks or even months, shackled to one another.

How did slaves gain their freedom?

1. Opportunities for most enslaved African Americans to attain freedom were few to none. Some were freed by their owners to honor a pledge, to grant a reward, or, before the 1700s, to fulfill a servitude agreement.