Slavery and African Americans essays

Slavery and African Americans essays African Americans resisted the practice of slavery and the trade of slavery from its inception in the United Stated in the early1600s to its end in the middle 1800s. They resisted it in the fields and in the big house; they resisted by organized rebellions; and they resisted by direct, spontaneous acts of courage. For their freedom slaves killed and were killed. They ran away, and their masters ran after them. They fought and died. They also survived. The conditions of slaves that survived varied. How well they were treated depended on their owner and the type of work they did. The field hands had it the hardest. They worked the longest hours and lived under the worst conditions. They had little clothing and one pair of shoes that had to last them a whole year. They lived in a single room and most had beds made out of straw and old rags. The house slaves, on the other hand, had it a lot better. They often lived in their owner's home and had much more privileges than did the field ha nds. The house slaves had a better chance of getting freed by their owner. The men usually did the outdoor chores, while the women did more of the domestic duties. While these domestic duties tended to add work to the slave woman's day, the domestic work was a way for women to rebel against the master to keep themselves and their families healthy. The family was important to most slave women, and they had ways of making sure that they stayed together, though these weren't foolproof. For example, slave owners refrained from selling women that demonstrated fertility, in that case female slaves would get pregnant at an early age. "Women slaves also represented and authority figure within their community" (Reid p.3). Wives were often able to provoke otherwise aggressive husbands into acts of rebellion against the master. In addition, mothers often educated their children, teaching them how to sew or do other household chores that they would need to be abl...