American Slave Christmas Holidays
Cooper Wallace
Mrs.stewart
1306
November/2/2014
A Slaves Holiday
American slaves experienced the Christmas holidays in many different ways. Joy, hope, and celebration were naturally a part of the season for many. For other slaves, these holidays stirred up visions of freedom. The relaxed work schedules associated with Christmas often enabled slaves to interact in ways that they could not during the rest of the year, like receiving gifts , ability to marry and opportunities to escape.
slaves normally received gifts from their masters during the holidays like, their yearly supply of clothing, a fancy food, or a present above and beyond what he or she needed to survive and work on the plantation. On the plantation, the transfer of Christmas gifts from master to slave was …show more content…
They took advantage of relaxed work schedules and the holiday travels of slaveholders, who were too far away to stop them. While some slaveholders treated the holiday as any other workday, northup records a variety of holiday traditions, including the suspension of work for celebration and family visits. Because many slaves had spouses, children, and family who were owned by different masters and who lived on other properties, slaves often requested passes to travel and visit family during this time. Some slaves used the passes to explain their presence on the road and delay the discovery of their escape through their masters' expectation that they would soon return from their "family visit." Harriet Tubman helped her brothers escape at Christmas. Their master intended to sell them after Christmas but was delayed by the holiday. The brothers were expected to spend the day with their elderly mother but met Tubman in secret. She helped them travel north, gaining a head start on the master who did not discover their disappearance until the end of the holidays. this shows how people like harriet tubman look at christmas as a time to
Mrs.stewart
1306
November/2/2014
A Slaves Holiday
American slaves experienced the Christmas holidays in many different ways. Joy, hope, and celebration were naturally a part of the season for many. For other slaves, these holidays stirred up visions of freedom. The relaxed work schedules associated with Christmas often enabled slaves to interact in ways that they could not during the rest of the year, like receiving gifts , ability to marry and opportunities to escape.
slaves normally received gifts from their masters during the holidays like, their yearly supply of clothing, a fancy food, or a present above and beyond what he or she needed to survive and work on the plantation. On the plantation, the transfer of Christmas gifts from master to slave was …show more content…
They took advantage of relaxed work schedules and the holiday travels of slaveholders, who were too far away to stop them. While some slaveholders treated the holiday as any other workday, northup records a variety of holiday traditions, including the suspension of work for celebration and family visits. Because many slaves had spouses, children, and family who were owned by different masters and who lived on other properties, slaves often requested passes to travel and visit family during this time. Some slaves used the passes to explain their presence on the road and delay the discovery of their escape through their masters' expectation that they would soon return from their "family visit." Harriet Tubman helped her brothers escape at Christmas. Their master intended to sell them after Christmas but was delayed by the holiday. The brothers were expected to spend the day with their elderly mother but met Tubman in secret. She helped them travel north, gaining a head start on the master who did not discover their disappearance until the end of the holidays. this shows how people like harriet tubman look at christmas as a time to