Life+of+Slaves+in+Antebellum+America

=Life of Slaves in Antebellum America=
 * How did slaves keep their spirit alive?

 Slaves kept their spirit alive in many ways. Resiliency (the ability to bounce back) was a slave's greatest tool in keeping their spirit alive. Slaves with resiliency adapted and recovered from disappointment, difficulty, and crisis. Resiliency skills slaves used included a sense of confidence and competence (ability to do something successfully or efficiently), a sense of control over one's mind and soul, a sense of contributing to a better life, surrounding themselves with people who make them stronger, discovering something they were good at, letting themselves experience success, and keeping a hope that things will get better Singing, worshiping, forming communities, and rebelling are everyday examples of how slaves applied their resiliency skills to keep their spirits alive. For more on singing and worshiping look at the Slave Culture section and for more on rebelling look at the resistance to slavey section. These four techniques were necessary in preserving a slave's soul. Forming a slave community went along with the resiliency skill of surrounding themselves with people who make them stronger. In a slave community, slaves were able to relate to one another and be reassured that they weren't going through slavey alone. In these secret slave communities, members often sang, danced, played music, and performed African rituals. Religion was also practiced in these communities and it was a place where slaves could unwind a little. However, the thought that a white man could invade and break apart the community and family was always in the back of a slave's mind. Slaves who managed to preserve their spirit held on to the hope that someday they might be free. -Alexis P.
 * What was the daily routine of a slave?

 The daily routine of a slave depended on what type of life the slaves lived. Depending of what job a slave was assigned to do (house slave, rice worker, blacksmith, ect.) varied their daily routine. Two major systems were used, the gang system and task system. The gang system was usually used in cotton plantation, the most common "job" for a slave. In gang systems slaves worked as a group under black drivers and white overseers from morning to night. A task system was usually used in rice plantations, another common job for slaves. Using this system, slaves worked individually and were required to finish a set amount of tasks before they were allowed to return home. Tasks included weeding a one hundred and five feet square rice field per day and fencing one hundred and twelve foot poles. Slaves also had to live with a set of laws called The Slave Code. All slave codes contained the main idea was that slaves were considered property and not people. Slave Codes often forbid slaves from giving evidence court against a white, making contracts, leaving the plantation without permission, striking a white (even as self-defense), buying and selling goods, owning guns, owning any anti-slavery writing, or visiting the homes of whites or free blacks. -Alexis P.
 * What was the most common way a slave died?

 Slaves could die from many different causes mainly due to their poor living conditions. Slaves had to work long hours with few breaks despite sickness or injuries in most cases. Slaves often received vicious punishment such as whipping and beating for small mistakes, depending on their master. Slaves had to endure (tolerate, suffer patiently) poor living quarters, little clothing, and unhealthy food. These harsh conditions caused slaves to die of dehydration, malnourishment, disease like malaria, and some slaves were even killed by their masters. Although, a master was unlikely to kill a slave because of the financial loss. When murder did occur the Masters would go unpunished. Some extremely cruel masters killed their slaves for simple mistakes such as dropping a plate. Slaves were also tortured mentally. Many times, slave masters separated families and put down slaves with harsh words. Slave often endured extreme mental abuse such as being treated like a filthy animal. Many slaves lost the will to live and died soon after. Even if death did not follow, the slave's soul and spirit would be completely crushed. -Alexis P.