Slave Culture Slavery in America thrived and continued to grow because there
was a scarcity of labor. Cultivation of crops on plantations could be supervised
while slaves used simple routines to harvest them, the low price at which slaves
could be bought, and earning profits as a bonus for not having to pay hired
work. But in the beginning half of the 19th century a strong push for slavery's
final straw was coming. The people of the South tended to be more genteel,
and seemed not quite adjusted to hard work, but more to giving orders. The
idea of telling people how to do their work just seemed to fit all too well into
this scenario. Slaves lived under virtually unsuitable conditions. Douglass'
account of a slave's life told of the trying times on the plantation. An allowance
was given to the workers. A monthly allowance consisted of mostly of pork
and corn meal but also some money. Yearly slaves were given clothes, a
couple shirts, and two pairs of pants-one pair of pants for winter and one pair
for the other times of the year. They were not given beds to sleep on but rather
a blanket for the floor. On top of lack of basic necessities slaves were forced
to work around the clock. If they were not at their total output for the minute
their owners they would be forced by the whip and "encouraged" to work
harder, as an owner might feel. They were always subject to profanity from
their masters and treated more like horses. Just like horses they were bred to
be strong, in the mindset of outputSlave owners would also sexually take
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