Black family in the enslaved community
In some ways enslaved African American families really bear a resemblance to other families who lived in different times and places and under different conditions. Some wives and husband adored each other; some never got along. Children sometimes stood by parent’s rules and restrictions; other times they followed their own thoughts. Majority of the parents loved their children and wanted nothing but protection for them. In some serious ways, though, the slavery that manifest everything about their lives made these families very unlike.
Enslaved people could not legally marry in any American territory or state. Foreign and state laws measured them possessions and merchandises, and marriage is, and was, very much a lawful agreement. That meant that until 1865 when slavery ended in the United States, the clear majority of African Americans could not lawfully marry. New York, Pennsylvania, or Massachusetts, in northern states where slavery had ended by 1830, unrestricted African Americans could …show more content…
People who were enslaved usually worked from sun rise until the sun sets. Women were never given a break, they would go back to work right after a birth. There were no such things called maternity leaves. Often running from the grounds during the day to feed their husband and children. On large farms or fields, it was common for children to be under a watch of one woman who is enslaved that was assigned watch over them, feed them and bath them while their parents are at work during the day. By the time most enslaved children got into the age of eight or nine they were also being handed tasks such as; the care of owner’s young infants, running to the grocery store or any other stores, delivering lunch to owners’ children at a school day, and finally, working in the corn, rice fields, tobacco, or cottons along with other enslaved
In some ways enslaved African American families really bear a resemblance to other families who lived in different times and places and under different conditions. Some wives and husband adored each other; some never got along. Children sometimes stood by parent’s rules and restrictions; other times they followed their own thoughts. Majority of the parents loved their children and wanted nothing but protection for them. In some serious ways, though, the slavery that manifest everything about their lives made these families very unlike.
Enslaved people could not legally marry in any American territory or state. Foreign and state laws measured them possessions and merchandises, and marriage is, and was, very much a lawful agreement. That meant that until 1865 when slavery ended in the United States, the clear majority of African Americans could not lawfully marry. New York, Pennsylvania, or Massachusetts, in northern states where slavery had ended by 1830, unrestricted African Americans could …show more content…
People who were enslaved usually worked from sun rise until the sun sets. Women were never given a break, they would go back to work right after a birth. There were no such things called maternity leaves. Often running from the grounds during the day to feed their husband and children. On large farms or fields, it was common for children to be under a watch of one woman who is enslaved that was assigned watch over them, feed them and bath them while their parents are at work during the day. By the time most enslaved children got into the age of eight or nine they were also being handed tasks such as; the care of owner’s young infants, running to the grocery store or any other stores, delivering lunch to owners’ children at a school day, and finally, working in the corn, rice fields, tobacco, or cottons along with other enslaved