African Slaves
How did African slaves transform the nation?
In North Carolina, slaves including young children and the elderly had an extremely difficult life. Slaves worked long hours, morning until night, and they only had Sunday off. They only had Christmas and the Fourth of July holidays off. Slaves had little free time of their own, and when they did, they were busy taking care of themselves. They didn't get much food from slaveholders so they were forced to tend small plots of land or fish. Many slaves wore rags, therefore mothers worked at night to clothe their children. Slaves were also deprived of a decent shelter. Most of them lived in small houses made of sticks with dirt floors. They had to endure cold and windy weather with cracks in the walls and just thin covers over the windows. Slave owners were selfish and not concerned about the slaves well being or safety. The only thing owners cared about was that slaves were alive and working. The one area in which slaves had any independence or freedom from their masters was to marry and have children. They had to ask for permission to marry though. The only reason owners allowed marriage was because it added to their wealth. Slave marriage didn't have any legal protection. If a master wanted to separate any family they could. By law, a child took on the legal status of it's mother so even if a father was free but the mother was a slave, then the child was a slave. Families were, many times, torn apart by the slave trade in North Carolina. Slave owners cared more about their profit by selling the slaves than the unity of family. It was common for slave traders to take them to Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, or Louisiana. Families and little hope to find one another later. Slaves didn't have any legal protection no matter how badly they were treated. An African person couldn't bring any complaints to court. An African person was not allowed to testify against a white person even if they committed a crime against him. Before 1774, it was not a crime to kill a slave. After 1774, the punishment was only a year in prison. However, if a slave was killed while a person was using "moderate correction" there was no charge. The court had the authority to try, sentence, and execute slaves without trial by jury. They were not allowed to have representation or witnesses. Only the most serious crimes were taken to court, the rest were taken on by the owners. In the 1700's, most slaves kept the religious traditions they brought from Africa. They were considered heathens. Their customs were meaningful and they didn't see any reason to adopt the owners religion. In the 1800's, slaves started converting to Christianity. Revivals were held for both whites and blacks. Slaveholders were worried that this would cause slaves to think they were equal and demand more freedom. Owners did;t them spending time at services when they could be working. The services gave them time to fellowship with others, express their faith, and have a break from work. Slavery transformed America into a wealthy nation with production and trade.
The African slaves worked very long hours in fields for the slaveholders. From morning until night they worked and didn't get breaks.