WPA Slave Narratives Essay

WPA Slave Narratives

There can be little doubt that most Americans are at least vaguely aware of the role that slavery has played in the history of our nation. Without question, the success of a very young United States can be attributed to the free labor provided by slaves, and the issue of slavery is widely regarded as the root cause the Civil War. Yet, as critical as the use of slaves was to the development of the United States, little discussion is made of the daily lives of the slaves. Seemingly, most Americans are ignorant of how the slaves lived, what they ate, where they lived, what their work was like, or how their owners treated them. Through what is commonly referred to as The WPA Slave Narratives, one can get a sense of what live was like for slaves in the United States.

Life before the introduction of electrical power, running tap water, telephones, and other modern conveniences which we take for granted must have been incredibly difficult. Provision of services, harvesting of raw materials, production of goods, and maintaining a sufficient supply of food, water, and shelter were labor intensive, requiring both skilled and unskilled workers. According to former slave Pierce Cody slaves worked as “…hoe hands, additional foremen, cooks, weaver, spinners, seamstresses, tailors, shoemakers, etc.” (Cody, 2) Slaves also made their own furniture including beds, chairs, benches, and tables. Some slaves were even able to play fiddles and banjos to provide entertainment for their masters and each other, and were sometimes available for hire. “If a white family was entertaining, and needed a musician but didn’t own one, they would hire a slave from another plantation to play for them.” (Green, 5) Most plantations and farms were self-sufficient, so a greater diversity of skills amongst slaves was advantageous to the slave owners, and made the slave more valuable.

On a typical day the overseer, who directly supervised the slaves, would blow a horn well before daylight to signal the slaves to arise and prepare for work. Dependent on the light of the sun, the slaves would have a quick meal before reporting to their assigned work by daylight. Men, women, and children were expected to work unless they were seriously ill. The children generally did the lighter work such as dropping seeds during planting, fetching water, or serving as playmates for their masters children. Isaiah Green recalls, “Cotton, wheat, corn, and all kinds of vegetables made up the crops.” (Green, 3) Women who had little or no skill were hoe hands, pickers, or performed other menial labor, while skilled women were cooks, spinners, weavers, seamstresses, or tailors. Men (and some women) plowed, cut wood, were foremen, or cobblers. The elderly or disabled slaves were also utilized taking care of young children, the injured, or sick, and some spent the day in fields ringing a bell to scare birds away. Everyone worked! In some instances the master would hire a skilled white worker for a particular job and a slave would learn the trade from the hired man. This provided the master with a skilled worked but also gave the slave a marketable skill for the day he might be a free man.

The slaves either remained in the fields for lunch which was brought to them in communal buckets, or in some cases returned to their quarters to eat. Regardless, slaves typically worked until dusk, if not later. When finally allowed to return to their quarters, the slaves had to cook their own meals, mend their clothes, or perform other personal chores before bedtime. This pattern was followed daily with the exception of Sunday, the 4th of July, Christmas, and sometimes New Years.

On Sunday slaves rarely worked and were encouraged attend church. Services for slaves were often held after the services for white people with the same minister, in the same church, but occasionally they attended services together, although sitting separately.  “A white minister invariably preached the then worn out doctrine of a slave’s duty to his master, the reward of faithfulness and the usual admonition against stealing.” (Cody, 1) Sometimes slaves preferred to hold their own services in makeshift “brush arbor” churches they constructed in wooded areas. These churches were very poorly constructed with walls and roofs made of branches which leaked profusely when it rained. (Cody, 3-4)

On holidays the slaves generally didn’t have to work and were often given extra rations or better cuts of meat, candy for the children and at Christmas might receive gifts or a small amount of money from their masters. “At Christmas dey give us anything dat us wanted. Dey give me dolls, candy, fruit and everything.” (Jones, 3) Slaves were also allowed to have social events such as dances or singings.

Marriage between slaves was allowed and slave women were encouraged to have as many children as possible. Slave women who produced many children were referred to as breeders. “A slave trader could always sell a breeding woman for twice the usual amount. A greedy owner got rid of those who didn’t breed.” (Green, 2) If slaves with different masters married, they couldn’t set up a shared household unless one of the masters sold his slave to the other master. Otherwise, the husband was allowed to visit his wife one or two nights a week. Slaves from different plantations visited each other but were required to have a pass from their master to do so. Local slave owners rode together in groups at night on the lookout for runaway slaves, and if they caught a slave away from his plantation without a pass a severe beating was usually administered.

Slaves lived in one or two room houses arraigned in rows or a semi-circle, with a family occupying each room. The houses were furnished with homemade tables, chairs, benches, and beds stuffed with hay or straw. A large fireplace warmed the houses and provided a place to cook their meals. The slave’s houses were close to the master’s house so he could keep an eye on them in case of a runaway, and also to protect them from those who would kidnap slaves and sell them at far away auctions.

Slaves were usually provided with an adequate amount of food. “Food was there in abundance and each person was free to replenish his supply as necessary.” (Cody, 4) In some situations they did all of the cooking for the plantation and therefore ate the same food as their masters. They usually cooked for themselves though, and were provisioned with meal, flour, smoked meat, molasses, pork, fish, and wild game such as rabbits, squirrels, possums, and deer. Slaves were usually encouraged to plant small gardens in which they grew their own vegetables, or would sometimes sell their produce to the master at a fraction of their actual value.

Medical care was provided for slaves, though they typically tried their own folk remedies such as castor oil or turpentine first. Isaiah Green relates that “Slaves did not lack medical treatment and were given the best of attention by the owner’s family doctor.” (Green, 5) In most cases, childbirth did not warrant a doctor, as midwives oversaw the delivery of children.

Having heard stories of how badly slaves were treated, I never considered how their lives played out day after day. I know that many were severely beaten and sometimes killed, and I can’t imagine the inhumanity and indignity slaves endured as the property of other men. It was refreshing to see that slaves lived, as best they could, given the circumstances, like other men.

Works Cited

WPA Slave Narratives. Interview with Fannie Jones. < http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mesn&fileName=042/mesn042.db&recNum=353&itemLink=D?mesnbib:70:./temp/~ammem_xzn1::>.

WPA Slave Narratives. Interview with Isaiah Green. < http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mesn&fileName=042/mesn042.db&recNum=50&itemLink=D?mesnbib:2:./temp/~ammem_mPRR:: >

WPA Slave Narratives. Interview with Pierce Cody. < http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mesn&fileName=041/mesn041.db&recNum=203&itemLink=D?mesnbib:131:./temp/~ammem_MPCR::.>.