Existing comment:
Opposite Realities of Slavery:
"Most of our old colored people were from Virginia and Maryland, and papa used to buy for them great barrels of fish -- herring from that part of the country. Molasses, tobacco, and some whiskey (on cold, raw days) were issued regularly to them from the storehouse, and then they had everything the farm produced, such as all vegetables, bacon, beef, and, of course, poultry."
-- Julia Grant
Preserving Identify and Community: Despite the fact that slaves had little control over their lives, they found ways to maintain some level of independence. Julia thought Bob careless when he let the fires burn out and had "to walk a mile to some neighbors and bring home a brand of fire." More like, Bob intentionally let them burn out to escape his owner's watchful eye, even if only for a few hours.
Slaves grasped opportunities for building community by combining required work with socializing. Corn shucking provided an occasion for slaves to gather from many plantations, making the work easier by sharing food, talk, and song.
The Invisible Hand of Slavery: From Julia's perspective, her father's generosity to the slaves at White haven left them happy with their lot. She stated that they "had everything that the farm produced," ignoring the fact that the farm's wealth of goods resulted solely from Charles, Willis, William, and Jim's labors in the fields and enslaved women's work in the kitchen garden. Likewise, she grew up thinking that the "house kept itself" rather than Kitty, Rose, and Mary, who worked tirelessly to keep things in order. Julia did not grasp the irony that as slaves these men and women could not benefit from their own labors. |