The American NegroIn the year 1620, the first Negroes were sailed to the state of Virginia on the American east coast by Dutch merchants. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries big cargoes of African Negroes, men, women and children were sent across the Atlantic Ocean. Many died because of the inhuman conditions on board the ships. The survivors were sold as cattle to the white planters at auctions, where men often were separated from their wives and children.
The strongest men and women worked in the tobacco- and cotton fields in the South and at the sugar factories in the West Indies Island. Only a few – especially beautiful, young Negro girls – worked as house slaves, took care of the children, cooked and washed for the whites families. The Negro families lived in small cabins and had small pieces of land, where they could grow their own vegetables and keep poultry and geese. They were the planter’s property, and he could punish them, sell them or marry them off.
Many Negroes attempted to flee to the North, others protested by working slowly, simulating illness or through open revolt. Often the slave owners feared their own slaves. The planters were far apart, and there were many more slaves than whites. One of the slaves’ most dangerous weapons was arson. A whole year’s income could end up in smoke if a barn filled with grain or tobacco was set in fire, and it was difficult to find the culprits.
Det er gratis at oprette en konto