Advantages And Disadvantages Of Rural Slavery

Around three fourths of the southern population owned slaves, which meant that they also owned ninety percent of wealth. Slavery was a dominant force in the economy. The white slave owners saw themselves as benevolent patriarchs. The owners would take care of the slaves, as well as punish them for any reason possible. Different factors affected how all slaves were treated. These factors included if the slaves were rural or urban, size of the plantation, age, personality of the master, type of crops, difficulty of work, and the location in the south. The experiences of rural and urban slaves differed because there were many advantages as well as disadvantages of living in rural and urban areas. The slaves in the rural area had a few advantages.
The slaves were given monthly food, which consisted of one bushel of corn and eight pounds of pork. They would receive eight pounds of fish if there was not enough pork. Rural slaves were given yearly clothing, which consisted of barely anything. Their clothes included two coarse shirts, one pair of linen trousers, one jacket, one pair of winter trousers, one pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes. These clothes were not comfortable because they were made of materials such as coarse cloth. One major advantage that slaves had was that the women were allowed to keep their children. Slave masters allowed this because the children could eventually work on the plantations or do other chores for the masters. Sometimes the slaves would have gatherings. They would do different events at these gatherings like dancing, singing, and telling folktales. Some slaves were given the advantage to do errands at the Great House Farm. The Great House Farm was actually the home plantation of Colonel Lloyd. Everyone in the area knew about this plantation and wanted to work there. Whoever had the honor to do this was called the most trustworthy and smartest slave.
However, the disadvantages of rural slaves greatly outweighed the advantages. The slaves on plantations had to go through many hard times. Some slave masters did not care at all about the well-being of the slaves. They were constantly working for the masters, which meant that they rarely had time to rest. They were not given beds to sleep on at night. The slaves would also get separated from their families. This is because it splitting them up could improve the slave owner’s financial situation.Slaves were frequently beaten for many reasons. When a slave was not working on the plantation at sunrise, then they would get beaten or whipped by the slave master. White people were violent towards the slaves, and they were not allowed to defend themselves, especially in the court system. They did not have a legal standing in it. Testifying was not allowed for them unless they were going to against a slave or free African-American. Entering contracts was impossible for them, and they were not allowed to own property. They were also not allowed to leave their slave owner’s property without permission. However, some slaves would sneak off the property to visit other slaves or family members. Frederick Douglas’s mother would sneak off of the plantation she was on and travel twelve miles just to see him. Urban slaves had greater advantages and expectations than rural slaves. When Frederick Douglas had to leave the plantation to go to Baltimore, he had to get the dead skin scraped off of his knees and feet. This is because the slaves in Baltimore were very clean, so they had to make him look presentable. He was also given a new pair of trousers to wear after he was completely clean.