Life+of+Slaves+in+Antebellum+America

Slaves had a very hard life. The slaves' monthly diet was very poor and consisted of 8 pounds of pork, fish, or a bushel of corn. They could have gotten that amount of food, but it was depending on what was produced on the plantation. Due to this, slaves weren't as healthy as they could be. The slaves weren't supplied with much silver ware, but they would make bowls out of what they could, Mainly the slaves would make the bowls out of stone, or wood.

Although one of the slaves' main jobs was to pick cotton, they also had to dig ditches, cut and clear wood, be servants, carpenters, or black smiths. Their work was hard, and if not done right their owners would give them punishments. One slave said "My treatment as a slave was various, it was sometimes rough and sometimes good." One of the lighter punishments was losing privileges compared to physical punishment. Here is a link to a picture of a slave who was punished. Warning this is graphic. http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/winter/images/slave-back.jpg

The slaves and their children shared a part of the same cabin. Usually different families would share cabins with each other. This meant there was barely any privacy. The part which makes it worse, is that the children would sometimes be taken away from the parents and the slave owners would help the child grow, and guide him/her. Although other owners would provide the slaves with housing, some owners made their slaves build their own house to live in. The plantation workers didn't have it the best. The slaves that worked in the house had a better living condition such as a better house and better food. Here is one of the slave's house. 