Life on plantations was extremely difficult for slaves. They faced constant supervision and threat of punishment from overseers while doing grueling agricultural work from dawn until dusk with little rest. Plantations operated like self-sustaining villages isolated from the outside world. While slaves faced unending toil in the fields, women and children were often exploited as domestic servants and were vulnerable to starvation, whipping, and rape. Music and religion provided sources of strength and resistance to the domination attempted by slave owners.

1. Plantation life
page 1
For slaves, life on the plantation was grueling work, with little respite from the
tyranny of the master or overseer's watchful eyes. Depending on their
size, plantations comprised a multitude of buildings: the homes of the master's
family, overseer, & slaves, as well as outbuildings, barns, & workshops. Large
plantations operated like self-sustaining village, & thus, were often isolated
from the outside world. Work on these plantations was unending for slaves.
Adult male slaves were primarily relied on to tend the fields, pastures, &
gardens.

2. Plantation
life page 2
• Overseers on horseback equipped with whips monitored slaves,
always threatening to punish “stragglers” with a flogging.
Plantation owners also exploited the work of skilled slaves, such as
blacksmiths & carpenters, for their own ends. Lastly, female slaves
and young children usually served as domestics, tending to the
master’s family as cooks, servants, & housemaids, and were often
starved, whipped, & even raped. Music & religion were sources of
strength for slaves, & they infused both with African culture &
meaning. Because slaves often did not have the means to obtain
many musical instruments, they often improvised & used their feet
to tap out a tune in coordination. “Patting juba,” or jubilee beating,
took the form of a variety of dances that were usually accompanied
by song.

3. Plantation
life page 3
Despite white southerners’ attempts to “Christianize” blacks, slaves
infused Christianity with their own African tribal & folk customs, creating
a religion that spoke to their suffering & promised freedom in the
afterlife. Despite the squalor they were forced to live in, many slaves
nevertheless attempted to eke out a life as best they could. And even
though their master’s claimed their bodies, slaves resisted complete
domination of their mind & soul by keeping their African traditions &
customs alive.