Field slaves had an extremely difficult life, working from dawn to dusk picking a minimum of 200 pounds of cotton per week. They were subject to beatings if they did not work hard or meet quotas. House slaves had better conditions and prepared meals, cleaned, and cared for children. All slaves typically received few clothes, often just 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants, and ate a meager diet of foods like cornmeal and salted herring. Their lives were tightly controlled and punishments were used if slaves disobeyed.

1. Life of A Field and
House Slave
By; Barbara Garfinkle, Perry Hicks, Mercedes Lowe and
Max Williams.

2. Field Workers
• Life on a plantation for field workers was not something
easy. They would have have to work from sunrise to sunset every
day, or “an see to can’t see the way a slave would say it. They
c ”
worked very hard with very little in return, expected to do
everything the right way and not slack off the slightest or else they
would be beaten by their masters. The minimum amount of cotton
that a field worker would have to pick a week was 200 pounds.
Even after they did everything they had to during the day, slaves
still had regular chores to do in their quarters. Slaves did get
Sundays off and if it was during the summer, they got 2 hours
off during midday because of the heat.

3. House Slaves;
• House slaves were under better living conditions than field
workers. House slaves had to clean, cook, serve meals, and
took care of the children. The cook’s day was just as hard as
any other. The cook had to get up early in the morning to cook
breakfast and ended with cleaning up after dinner and collecting
firewood wood for the next day. House slaves had to wait on
tables, washed, ironed, took up and put down carpets, hauled
large steaming pots for the preservation of fruits , lifter barrels
with cucumbers soaking in brine, opened up the barrels of flour,
swept, dusted, hoed and weeded gardens, and collected eggs.
Also they took care of infants, weaved, quilted, and spun linens.

4. What Slaves Wore;
• Slaves would have 3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, one
pair of shoes and one pair of socks.
Some slaves were allowed to have
hats and jackets.
Scott, Dred. "Dred Scott Decision. Dred Scott Decision.
"
N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar 2011. <http://
americancivilwar.com/colored/dred_scott.html>.

5. What Slaves Ate;
• Field Slaves would eat cornmeal, salt herring, and pork.
Breakfast was at 12 pm and dinner was much later.
• House slave were given left overs from the big house meals.
• Sometime, slaves would steal animals although it was very
risky and could be punished. Some planters allowed slaves to
have guns to catch their own food, they also fished. They
would also keep small gardens, called “truck patches”, to
provide a little bit more food.

6. Resources
• "dailylife. Daily Life of a Plantation Slave. Orical Thinkquest, n.d. Web. 14 Mar 2011. <http://
"
library.thinkquest.org/CR0215086/dailylife.htm>.
• "The never ending war over slavery. The never ending war over slavery. Web. 10 Mar 2011. <http://
"
dir.salon.com/news/feature/2003/05/27/slavery/index.html>.
• Simkin, John. "slave punishments. slave punishments. orical thinkquest, september 1997. Web. 14 Mar 2011.
"
<http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215086/dailylife.htm>.
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