Labor and Working Conditions of Slaves During Solomon Northrop’s Era Before the Era of Solomon Northrop, Thomas Jefferson Made a rather impactful statement of his views. He said, “…the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites…” (Foner, 994) this statement shows that from the beginning African Americans were viewed as slaves as it was there place in society. This concept is shown in the book “12 Years A Slave”, When Solomon is lured into slavery by two crafty men across the mason dixon line into slave territory. In that specific time period Slaves were not only on the bottom of the food chain in society but also were treated as such When they were working on a day to
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These were the main tasks show in “12 years a slave”, for some the tasks would be cleaning or acting as a driver making sure the other slaves stayed in line and completed their tasks. “The precise organization of their labor varied according to the crop and the size if the holding” (Foner, 324). In Solomon’s case, he did all of these tasks and rotated them by season. During the season of cotton picking, a slaves day was of course from sun up to sunrise. “There are few sights more pleasant to the eye, than a wide cotton field when it is in the bloom. It presents an appearance of purity, like an emaculant expanse of light, new fallen snow (Northrup, 116).” The sight of a new bloomed cotton field may be beautiful but the work slaves did during this time of year was in no way pleasing in any way. The first time a slave went to the fields to picked his sack was weighed at the end of the day. The weight of the sack was then recorded and everyday from that point he or she was required meet or exceed that limit or they would be whipped or beaten severely. Because of this harsh process, cotton became king of all exports produced in the states. To keep production going the plantation owners had to make their slaves submit to them, there was no time for acting out and also the owners began to imtemidate their slave to keep order and also to avoid revolt. “Slaveowners employed a variety of means in their attempts to maintain order and discipline among their human property and persuade them to labor productively ( Foner 325).” In order to avoid the harsh labor of their day to day life some slave would act in a way called “silent sabatoge”. This is where the slaves would break tools, fake sick, or do anything they could think of to disrupt the production of
These were the main tasks show in “12 years a slave”, for some the tasks would be cleaning or acting as a driver making sure the other slaves stayed in line and completed their tasks. “The precise organization of their labor varied according to the crop and the size if the holding” (Foner, 324). In Solomon’s case, he did all of these tasks and rotated them by season. During the season of cotton picking, a slaves day was of course from sun up to sunrise. “There are few sights more pleasant to the eye, than a wide cotton field when it is in the bloom. It presents an appearance of purity, like an emaculant expanse of light, new fallen snow (Northrup, 116).” The sight of a new bloomed cotton field may be beautiful but the work slaves did during this time of year was in no way pleasing in any way. The first time a slave went to the fields to picked his sack was weighed at the end of the day. The weight of the sack was then recorded and everyday from that point he or she was required meet or exceed that limit or they would be whipped or beaten severely. Because of this harsh process, cotton became king of all exports produced in the states. To keep production going the plantation owners had to make their slaves submit to them, there was no time for acting out and also the owners began to imtemidate their slave to keep order and also to avoid revolt. “Slaveowners employed a variety of means in their attempts to maintain order and discipline among their human property and persuade them to labor productively ( Foner 325).” In order to avoid the harsh labor of their day to day life some slave would act in a way called “silent sabatoge”. This is where the slaves would break tools, fake sick, or do anything they could think of to disrupt the production of