EXPERIENCES OF ENSLAVED BLACKS IN THE 1800s

EXPERIENCES OF ENSLAVED BLACKS IN THE 1800s

Slavery in the United States is a topic that most people talk about when referring to the history of the United States, especially in learning institutions. Slavery in America entailed the Whites using African Americans to work for them in their large plantations, without pay or paying them with minimum wages that they could not sustain their families. Both African American men and women were considered equal by their masters; hence, they performed similar jobs in the plantations. The framework of this essay uncovers the brutal experiences such as slave trade, hard labor, harsh and cruel punishment, and attaining freedom through an interview from one of the survivors of slavery in the 1800s.

The primary source is in an article format, which is titled, “Father” Charles Coates, and published by the Federal Writers Project, American Guide (Negro Writer’s Unit). The article is an interview of Charles Coates, who was enslaved by the White supremacy during the slavery period. The interview was conducted by Viola B. Muse, who worked as a field worker in Florida State on December 3, 1936. The interview was 108 years after Father Charles Coates had attained his freedom from the enslavers. It was published as a government publication for all administrations like state, territorial, dependent, and provincial use.

One of the experiences talked by Charles Coates in his interview was the slave trade that African Americans and other slaves like the Native Americans suffered. Charles states that slaves were sold as property; prices were determined by the strength and gender of the slave. He says that his master always regarded him as “being tall, healthy and robust, he was well worth much money.”[1] He experienced the slave trade during the slavery period, where his master, Mr. L’Angle, sold him to another enslaver, W.B Hall, as a time payment. It meant that he was considered costly by his master, as his price was raised high above other slaves because of his ability to perform duties that other slaves could not. He also mentions that slaves were bought and transported over distances, to work in their masters’ agricultural plantations. Slave trade also included children, who were sold to perform light duties in the farms such as fetching wood, minding hogs, and cows.[2] Therefore, most of the slaves, according to Charles, were considered property by their masters, and the large number one owned showed his wealth and power in their society.

Slaves also experienced hard labor in the plantations. Charles states that both women and children worked for long hours in the farms, doing strenuous manual work like digging up trees by the root and rail splitting without time to relax. The hard labor was also accompanied by cruelty from the masters, where they were supposed to wake up early in the morning to begin their work without adequately eating. He states that there was no time to sit and have a meal, as the daily eating method was, “grab a piece of meat and bread and run to the field,”[3] Before the master’s overseers came to the farms, even though the slaves woke up early to begin their work in the plantations, the overseers did not allow anyone to take a break during the day. Therefore, hard labor was only beneficial to masters, because the yields were taken from them, and some went on for days hungry.

Charles also reveals that the religious beliefs difference experienced during his time were encouraged during slavery by the masters. He states that the only free time slaves were given away from the plantations and other daily work was attending in the preaching of God’s word in the company of their masters. Despite the favor of attending the churches, slaves were not permitted to sit close to the masters. They were to sit on wagons, about the churchyard, and listening to the preaching at a far distance. The only way they were allowed to hold their church gathering as by permissions from the masters, and a White preacher to condemn them rather than preach. Charles states that the only words he heard from the preaching was, “be sure and git all dem weed outen dat corn in de field and your master will think a heap of you.”[4] Therefore, he illustrates that the oppression of the slaves was not only physical but also spiritual and emotional to all.

Punishment to offenses and mistakes done in the plantation by their masters and the overseers was cruel for the slaves. Slaves were brutally punished, which caused both physical and psychological damage to them. Charles states that masters were responsible for permitting punishment to their slaves, even when they pretended to care. He declares that Mr. Wall, “he was always pretending,”[5] that he had no idea of the punishment by overseers, which was false because he must have been told of it as slaves were his property. He states his position as a driver allowed him to hear the brutality of overseers to slaves in the plantations. The punishment rendered to slaves included whipping on contraptions. The harshness of the sentence involved being suspended with chains tied on the fingers for their feet not to touch the ground.[6] Then, whipping was done by the overseers until whelps and blood trickled from the body, in the presence of other slaves. Women, even those that were pregnant, were given the same punishment as men, and they would be placed in a room and left there for days without food and water.  Therefore, all offenses in the plantations were punished by the same brutal and harsh way by the enslavers.

Finally, freedom symbolized the end of slavery for Charles Coates and other slaves that had endured the suffering for many years. Charles states that the Union Army ensured that all enslaved people received their freedom from the enslavers, who were supposed to surrender their property to the Union and give it to the slaves who had worked for it without pay.[7] Some slaves surrendered their land to the same masters after the soldiers had left, while others fenced it as their own. Slaves like Charles continued working and earning a better wage, which he went ahead and married his second wife, Irene, after moving with his parents to Georgia. He states that he feels happy that his nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren are living free from such slavery he endured and others.

Conclusively, slavery in the United States is an essential topic that is taught in all learning institutions and in bondage, which helps to informed students, mostly non-White, of the suffering endured by their ancestors in achieving freedom today. The interview in the article, “Father” Charles Coates by Viola B. Muse illustrates the brutal experiences like the slave trade, hard labor, and harsh and cruel punishment by slaves. It reminds them that such endurance should not be forgotten, and they should use that freedom to make prosperity in life. Therefore, the source an essential reference tool to elaborate on slavery through those that endured it in the past.

Bibliography

Muse, Viola B, Federal Writers’ Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Florida. “Father” Charles Coates: slave interview, December 3, 1936. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0021860/00001/. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)

[1] Muse, Viola B, Federal Writers’ Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Florida. “Father” Charles Coates: slave interview, December 3, 1936. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0021860/00001/. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)

[2] Muse, Viola B, Federal Writers’ Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Florida. “Father” Charles Coates: slave interview, December 3, 1936. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0021860/00001/. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)

[3] Muse, Viola B, Federal Writers’ Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Florida. “Father” Charles Coates: slave interview, December 3, 1936. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0021860/00001/. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)

[4] Muse, Viola B, Federal Writers’ Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Florida. “Father” Charles Coates: slave interview, December 3, 1936. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0021860/00001/. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)

[5] Muse, Viola B, Federal Writers’ Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Florida. “Father” Charles Coates: slave interview, December 3, 1936. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0021860/00001/. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)

[6] Muse, Viola B, Federal Writers’ Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Florida. “Father” Charles Coates: slave interview, December 3, 1936. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0021860/00001/. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)

[7] Muse, Viola B, Federal Writers’ Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Florida. “Father” Charles Coates: slave interview, December 3, 1936. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0021860/00001/. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)