Women's Work Chapter Summary

Book Review of: Women’s Work, Men’s Work: The Informal Slave Economics of Lowcountry Georgia
Betty Wood explains the struggle bond people went through in Georgia low country over a time span of eighty years, from 1750s-1830s. In this book it reflects on the struggles that bondmen and women had in trying to secure and recognize their rights. Slave markets had reached a point to where they were going to be the main focus of Savannah’s political regimen until the Civil War. Wood argues that, from the beginning of slavery in Georgia slaves fought for a quasi-independent system where they could obtain a better way of living for them and their families.
Wood writes in this book about several aspects that occurred in this time era. In chapters one, Wood’s main focus is on the constant negotiations of how many hours slave owners could make their bond people work and what type of product they were supposed to produce. She goes into detail …show more content…
Slaves believed that they could grow surplus goods to barter and sale for extra income. One of the ways slaves produced extra money and food for their families was for slaves to own these grounds of work that slaves could have for themselves called names such as “gardens,” “private fields,” or “task grounds.” These were places where slaves could plant and grow whatever they wanted and sell them for money or eat them to provide nourishment for their families. Another way slaves would produce income was through selling or trading the rations their owners gave them. Wood notes different accounts about how bond people received food as their “weekly allowance” from their owners and how they would sell them for extra money. Owners tried to contain and control this system, which was against slave codes but these laws were easy to go around. Slaves would then wait until their master had gone to sleep to go trade and sale their goods for