Slave Life Essay -- essays research papers

As slavery continued and grew, complicated systems of social military position authentic on plantations. The lowest rank slaves, the backbone of the plantation economy, were the report slaves. The field slaves were divided into gangs according to their physical strength and ability, with the strongest and fittest males and females in the first gang. The highest ranking slaves were the domestic servants who worked in the haveers house. The difference in status between field and domestic slaves ca utilize a division between the slaves on most plantations.Field work on the sugar plantations was intense and exhausting, particularly the digging of holes for planting and the cutting of canes when it was time to reap them. The incentive used to encourage hard work, was lashes of the cart whip, which were freely administered by the drivers, who were privileged slaves down the stairs the overseers supervision. During crop time, work in the factories was equally intense and the hours we re long. The cruel measure at which slaves were driven effectively shortened their lives, and this continued to be the outcome despite legislation, which claimed to restrict how severely enslaved Africans were treated.Plantations throughout the Caribbean were organised in more the same way, though there were differences amongst the islands. In Puerto Rico for example, the Spanish establish slave codes that gave enslaved Africans more rights than in many other colonies. These codes allowed some enslaved Africans to own pr...