Black People In The Slave South1850 (1971)

[Music] one day in 1795 a cotton planter in Naches Mississippi entertained a traveler from Georgia the occasion was a pleasant one and it was to have astonishing consequences the visitor had brought a rough sketch of Eli Whitney's cotton gin invented 2 years before the planter asked his slave to build a working model in this way the labor saving cotton gin was introduced into Mississippi it was to bring about a social and economic upheaval at that time near the start of the 19th century Mississippi was considered the Wild Frontier of the cotton Kingdom its Chief crops were Indigo and tobacco its largest settlement was Naches with a population of 9,000 of this number 3500 were slaves the plantations in the nachas region were surrounded by the Wilderness where Indians the cre the CHS and the Naches still made their home gradually as the cotton gin came into widespread use Indigo and tobacco were replaced on the big plantations Planters concentrated on raising cotton and nothing else by the 1830s a flood of immigrants moved in to settle new areas of the fertile land acquired by treaty from the Indians soon there arose an enormous demand for cheap labor the demand was met by the large-scale importation of [Music] blacks by 1850 slaves outnumbered whites in Mississippi and by size of numbers in the cotton lands along the major rivers the Planters Mania for land and slaves would not pass one writer predicted till Mississippi becomes one vast cotton field by 1860 most of the South's wealth money land and slave labor was invested in raising cotton [Music] the barter and trading of slaves was constant and merciless Mississippi Planters often bought slaves in new orans the world's leading market for cotton and black gold many Traders east of the Appalachian shipped them down the Atlantic coast to markets near [Music] Naas slaves in the interior were shipped down the Mississippi this was a dread fate for it usually meant working in the rice swamps [Music] a Trader might plan to sell a family as a group but he would seldom refuse an offer to sell a husband a wife or a child alone let us observe what might Beall one skilled slave after he had been separated from his family as a trained servant he would have an easier life than most slaves but away from his family he would have no real peace as a house servant with special skills he would live in the big house and would be encouraged to feel superior to the field hands he would dress and eat well and he might sometimes get to leave to visit his wife if she were sold to a nearby Plantation this was Plantation life in a frontier setting quite different from the gracious life of the Old South but the plantation was still a self-supporting Community even if many luxuries and traditions were missing the success of any Plantation depended on many different types of Labor and slaves provided most of the skilled labor in the south [Music] the field hands assigned to a whole gang and a plow gang were the backbone of the Planter's Workforce the white overseer was boss of the work gangs and manager of the plantation responsible for the care conduct and work of the slaves field hands lived in a different world from that of the servants in the big house the regular working hours of a field hand were from sunrise to sunset during Harvest time he would often work from dawn until 9 at night during most of his day every move he made was watched the overseer's word was law and the driver's weapon enforcement 30 lashes or more was common punishment for slow or careless work for Disobedience or impudent Behavior the daily routine of threats and whippings was balanced with small rewards for good behavior a pass to visit town on Sunday dancing parties on holidays and at the end of the harvest season Gifts of money or food at Christmas [Music] on most plantations the rations of clothing and food were barely adequate for basic needs almost always coarse and plain for each slave the usual ration of food was a peck of cornmeal and 3 or 4 L pounds of bacon or salt pork a week a year's supply of clothing was two summer suits two winter suits a straw hat and a wool hat and two pairs of shoes most field hands lived in one room log cabins that were drafty barely furnished and overcrowded by 1860 Mississippi's black population outnumbered Whites by more than 80,000 many Planters thought of their slaves as valuable but uh dangerous property to protect the white population the state organized a patrol system to police the conduct of slaves [Music] local citizens were drafted to patrol the highways to arrest slaves without passes and to uh break up illegal meetings Mississippi Planters still haunted by the memory of Nat Turner's Revolt were alarmed in the 1850s by John Brown's raids in Kansas and by the growing Fury of the anti-slavery movement in the major cities of the north pro-slavery leaders had long carried on a campaign to convince the public that slavery was good for the South and even good for black people they argued that nature intended blacks to be common laborers physically strong but mentally dependent on white people George Fitz Hugh a popular pro-slavery writer said that slaves were the happiest the freest people in the world Fitz Hugh and other writers compared the Carefree life of the slave with the hard life of factory workers in the North Mississippi slaves had no way to protest or change the system but they did plan ways to resist and escape a slave could play the role of a perfect The Humble childlike devoted servant while plotting to run away he could pretend illness or stupidity to avoid an unwanted job he could steal damage or destroy his master's property he could express his Yearning For Freedom in wonderful songs didn't my Lord deliver Daniel and why not every man he could take his chances with forged papers on the road or run away and live like a hunted animal in the swamp in a few more years the black people of Mississippi would be free but their lives would not be greatly changed the old cruelties of slavery and inequality would continue for a long time Mississippi would remain a completely segregated Society for more than a hundred years [Music] the for