Introduction
Slavery existed among the Africans long before the era the European colonization, slave trade and slavery came to its peak at the period between fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. The first individuals the Europeans enslaved were the Amerindians followed by Europeans themselves and later came the Africans. The European legalized and passed laws whereby slaves belonged to their masters just like property, and even children who were born to these slaves belonged to the master as well. These were the Chattel slaves (Salvaing, 2016). Although all slaves were their owners’ property, they were in different classes according to the nature of chores they performed. This led to various slaves living different experiences regarding exposure, treatment and even survival chances differed.
Once they took over a territory, they displaced the indigenous population and took over their resources including land. Agriculture was one of their primary interests and as they continued acquiring plantations that were fertile the need for laborers significantly increased. As in much that the roles of slaves varied, the majority worked in the farms performing chores like planting and harvesting. Race and culture was a major determining factor when choosing slaves. When the Europeans moved to their territories, they forced the natives to work on the plantations as slaves by force (Salvaing, 2016). There were many ways of acquiring slaves such as buying them from slave markets which had become very popular especially in Africa, Slave would also be inherited or even gifted to someone. To add to this, kidnapping was also used to acquire slaves where people were raided and kidnaped to be kept or sold as slaves. Also during wars some people were would be captured and ended up being enslaved. It was not only the colonialists who owned slaves, but some natives also had slaves (Perbi, 2001). These slaves served different roles and purposes.
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Field hands were the most common slaves. They were used by Europeans to plant and tend to the large plantations in their colonies. These included; rice plantations, cotton plantations and sugar plantations where they harvested sugarcane and manufactured raw sugar as well as make rum from distilling molasses. They also performed chores like building fences, land cultivation and other farm chores their masters demanded from them. The Amerindians who were the natives and the first slaves the Europeans used. They were to work on the plantations in exchange for civilization and protection (Salvaing, 2016). Those who refused to comply were killed while a majority fled. Due to this, the Europeans needed more labor and started bringing in prisoners of war as well as convicts from Europe. This however still did not meet their demand for laborers.
The Europeans began bringing in slaves from Africa. It first started with small populations and later the numbers of African slaves that were being shipped in quickly escalated. The Europeans did not regret their decision to bring in African slaves as they showed a lot of agricultural skills and still they provided cheap labor. Since Africans had come from tropical regions, they were able to thrive and withstand the harsh conditions at the Caribbean compared to the other slaves who often succumbed to the harsh conditions, tropical ailments and diseases like smallpox. Europeans also believed that the Africans' dark skins made it also easy for them to be identified as slaves as compared to their other counterparts and it is said this is how racism came to be (The Annenberg Foundation, 2004). The field slaves settled within these plantations but a distance away from their masters' settlements and when they bore children they would grow up and work on the plantations as well. Some field hand slaves planted crops like maize, yams, and potatoes, which they used to fend for themselves since the food they got from their masters was not sufficient.
The experiences of slaves varied depending on environments of where they were based. Town slaves had utterly different experiences compared to field slaves and other slaves for that matter. Whereas field slaves were found in rural areas, town slaves were urban-based. Apart from rural field slaves who fled to the urban areas, most town slaves often resided with their masters or in proximity to them. These urban areas had essential skills and would perform duties like building and woodcutting. However, all the wages they received belonged to their masters. Slaves were also involved in retail selling mostly foodstuff to keep a little and bring the rest home to their owners (Groenewald, 2010). Some women worked as prostitutes for the same purpose of bringing revenue to their masters while saving up for themselves. One of many ways slave owners acquired income from their laborers was by hiring them out daily. Field slaves rarely got their freedoms, but it was possible for some urban slaves to save up and buy their freedom. Town slaves also were able to build relationships with their masters something that was rare for other types of slaves. In rare cases, some town slaves would be granted their freedom freely by their masters.
To add to their skill set some urban slaves could read and would educate their fellows. For the mischievous ones, they took the situation as an opportunity to experience some of their masters' privileges like drinking, gambling, and smoking among other pleasures. Some town slaves who found themselves near the shipyard would run away (Groenewald, 2010). This only but justified the master's worries that they could turn out rebellious due to the exposure of town life, however, the revenue they earned from hiring them out was worth the risk.
Domestic slaves, on the other hand, were confined to house chores like cooking meals, cleaning dishes and clothes, receiving and taking care of guests and looking after their masters' children (Perbi, 2001). Domestic slaves enjoyed a few rights but were not allowed to leave or even marry unless their master gave them the permission to proceed. Most of them lived with their masters for a long time since they received better treatment than other slaves receive and even ate better food. Some slave owners even treated their domestic laborers as part of the family. Rich slave owners would provide their household slaves with uniforms. Most household slaves were women or slaves who could not work in the fields. Mostly, these domestic slaves slept at their masters’ house. Personal violations were also common with domestic slaves as the women admitting to sexual exploitation by their masters.
A slave driver was one who would be appointed to oversee operations in the farm. He was in charge of allocating chores and follow to it that they were performed well. A slave driver had to be knowledgeable about the crops as they were in charge of cultivating, watering and harvesting (Littlefield, 2018). The success of a harvest, therefore, depended mostly on his decisions. Some slave drivers were not popular among slaves, as they would mistreat the others because they viewed themselves to be in better standing than others (Littlefield, 2018). However, there were those who were kind and treated the field hands well thus gaining admiration and respect from the other slaves.
Although it was rare, free black slaves in the colonial period gained backed their freedom. This was mostly witnessed with the town slaves. While working for their masters’ town slaves who were industrious would save up some revenue. Once they had saved up enough money, they would purchase their freedom. Another way that a slave would become a free black slave was through manumission (Ushistory.org, 2018). Although rare, manumission was a case whereby a slave owner would freely give freedom to his slave. This was common in slaves who cultivated good bonds with their owners by being honest, hardworking and obedient. Children who were born to slaves also gained their freedom this way although not all of them. It is not all free black slaves who had repurchased their freedom or were given it freely. Some of the slaves risked their lives by escaping from their masters, and this commonly happened with field hands and town slaves. Though they identified as free black slaves, they did not enjoy much freedom. One of the significant challenges faced by free blacks is kidnapping and being brought back to slavery (Ushistory.org, 2018). The lucky ones who maintained their liberty faced a lot of rejection and hostility from white people.
Conclusion.
It is evident that slave categorization led to some slaves live in better conditions than others. This benefited the slave community in that those who became literate especially the town slaves spread their knowledge to others and this, in turn, led to more rebellion and creation of platforms for slaves to air their grievances. Even though slaves had a wide range of experiences depending on their classes, they all shared some common grievances. From the chattel slaves to the free blacks they all enjoyed minimal rights and racism was a common problem. Regardless of whether free or owned by a master, the Europeans viewed their dark skins as inferior, this reflected in the harsh treatment and poor wages which were a frequent grievance among all slaves irrespective of class. Despite all this, they soon gained their freedom due to the abolitionists’ campaign against the institution in the continent and the rest of the world. All in all, despite the fact that most of the slaves were uneducated and unskilled, supplied cover for the injustice, it could not eliminate doubts over its justification among people in the society.
References
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