Mr. Severe, the overseer, held a whip and a stick, and stood near where the slaves lived. He was ready to whip anyone who did not hear the horn or who for any reason was not ready to start walking to the field on time.
Children who were not old enough to work in the fields did not get shoes, socks, jacket, or pants. They got only two shirts per year.
The biggest difficulty for slaves is not that they don’t have beds, but that they don’t have time to sleep. When they are done working in the field, they have to do the regular household chores like washing and mending, but they don’t have good equipment to do them. As a result, they have to spend a lot of the night getting their chores done to be ready to work in the field again the next day.
It is inappropriate to think that a man who is stranded on a desert island and is singing is happy. It is just as inappropriate to think that a slave who is singing is happy. They are both singing to express the same emotion.
Even thinking of these songs makes me sad. While I am writing, a tear has rolled down my cheek.
Every year, a slave was given two rough linen shirts, one pair of pants, one jacket, one pair of winter pants, one pair of socks, and one pair of shoes. All of these together cost less than seven dollars.
