Slavery In The 1800s

Instead of reducing as stipulated by the constitution, Slavery spread to other western territories and states as new cotton fields were planted, and by 1830 it thrived in more than half the continent. Within 10 years after the cotton gin was put into use, the value of the total United States crop leaped from $150,000 to more than $8 million. This success of this plantation crop made it much more difficult for slaves to purchase their freedom or obtain it through the good will of their masters. Cotton became the foundation for the developing textile industry in New England, spurring the industrial revolution which transformed America in the 19th century. The cotton boom and the resulting demand for slaves brought increased danger for northern
The slave is now the owner’s property. The first auction in the United States was on March 3 in the 1800s.
Field slaves worked the most, working from dawn to sunset. Field slaves harvested hemp and cotton. A house slave was given more respect than a field slave. House slaves got better food and better clothing. A house slave lived with the plantation owner and the field slaves lived in a shabby shack in most cases. On Saturdays there were square dances for the slaves.
Contrary to legend, all Southerners did not own slaves or live on large plantations. Of those who did hold slaves, most owned only one or two and worked alongside them on small farms. Much of the region’s wealth, however, was controlled by the few large planters who owned dozens or hundreds of slaves to work their expansive
Workloads fluctuated with the seasonal requirements of the cotton plant. The field slaves task included ploughing, planting, picking cotton, pulling and burning stalks. The fall harvest saw the greatest demands on the plantation crews, bringing all available hands into the fields, including children. Because the short staple cotton plants grown before the civil war did not all mature at the same time, the picking season might extend over several months, with slaves scouring the same field repeatedly. Adult slaves were expected to pick two hundred pounds of cotton a day, pinching the bolls out of the sharp seed casings, stuffing them into long gunny sacks dragged over the shoulder through the rows to the weighing scales, then dumping them in the wagon waiting to take the cotton to the nearest gin for cleaning and pressing into bales. Slave gangs worked at least until dusk though in harvest season slaves might also feed live-stock or move cotton bales well into the night. After the harvest was ove3r, slave workers spent the winter season cutting wood, repairing or erecting outbuildings, and clearing more land for spring planting. After a twelve-to fourteen-hour workday most slaves returned to a dinner of fatty pork and corn mush, followed by sleep in