Slavery: Of Life and Labor
As I read Frederick Douglass’s work on how a slave lived I was horrified at such an apalling scene set before me. Sleeping without beds, but with hard scratchy blankets, living an entire year with the same clothing, and being restricted from anything pleasurable by the tyrannical Mr. Severe. Singing provided, form what I already know, a way to complain without getting whipped. They sang of their woes on the plantation, their poor living conditions, or their unending hunger. They were only given around 8 pounds of pork or fish (whatever was in season) but the thing was, it expired. Within weeks too.
Many slaves had families, and the children, figuring they needed less, were only given a shirt or two with possibly socks or shoes. Their food rations were given to their guardians. The slaves sang to express their reluctance to be where they were and the pain they were undergoing. On the terms of the Underground Railroad and the GrapeVine, song was a well organized code, the lyrics sometimes changed to fit a message but still followed the tune of the original song.
According to the article and past ones we have already covered, the African-Americans were very religious, at least those who were considered sophisticated enough to attend. They sat in churches, being preached about why it was set in the Bible that they were supposed to be slaves. It was within the will of God that they would live the hard and unbountiful lives they were already suffering.
