Life Under Slavery

Rural Slavery

Between 1810 and 1830, the population of slaves grew from 1.2 million to roughly 2 million.

Men, women, and children labored all day in the fields of large plantations. By 1850 most slaves lived on plantations that employed ten or more slaves, but many lived on small farms working beside their owners.

Urban Slavery

By the 1830's many Southern whites started farming because if the cotton wealth, so there was a shortage of white laborers for industries such as mining and lumber. As a result, slaves filled the positions of these white laborers by working at mills and on ships. In Southern cities enslaved blacks could hire themselves as artisans. Many enslaved women and children worked the same jobs as men in Southern industry. Slave owners could make money off of their slaves by hiring them out to factory owners. This created a sense of freedom for the city slaves because they were not under the watchful eye of their owners.