Essay Sample about Southern Plantation Lifestyle

Life surrounding plantations created societies with clear class divisions among the inhabitants. There were very few wealthy people at the top of the hierarchy with most never experiencing a glimpse of wealth. A similar hierarchy existed inside the plantation. Planters would be in charge of operations and business. Planter wives typically learned and performed managing skills or tended gardens. The children followed in their parent’s footsteps and took up their responsibilities when they passed. Overseers worked as security and regulated the slaves making sure that the slave work was done properly. House slaves worked and often lived inside the home of the planter performing domestic labor [cooking, cleaning, sexual slaves, serving meals, and caring for children (Wikipedia)]. 

By the late 19th century, the population of African slaves in the South was well over 12 million. At this time, the newest cash crop cotton had eclipsed tobacco, sugar cane, and rice in economic importance. By 1860, the region produced two-thirds of the global cotton. Cotton being easily stored and versatile created a demand for cotton by the world leaders. Constant requests and purchases meant that to keep the business flowing there would have to be more plantations and ultimately more slaves to harvest them. The number of slaves and plantations steadily increased until the mid-1800s when over two billion pounds of cotton were produced annually. Southern cotton that was picked and processed by the slaves “upheld the wealth and power of the planter elite while it fueled the nineteenth-century Industrial Revolution in both the United States and Great Britain '' (US History I: Precolonial to Gilded Age).

Life inside the planter’s home differed from the life of the workers that toiled the planter’s soil. The homes of planters often resembled or were in fact mansions. Homes were shaded by trees and surrounded by gardens towered over by spacious verandas. Depending on their income, some planters would live in modest conditions with well-designed and kept houses. These modest conditions of less wealthy planters housed 20-100 slaves and were the most influential people of the southern plantation life. Though the living conditions varied from planter to planter, they all had similar jobs to do. They were to address public business and in their free time hunt and watch races. Planters would occasionally check in on the work progression but since they had no chores or crops they lived a simple and easy life. The wives of the planters lived a similar lifestyle. They had no real job but to supervise the domesticated house slaves and ensure a smooth house life. Wives contributed to choosing the meals of the day and if their husbands were away, they were supposed to make sure business affairs were going well. As a mother, the wives were entitled to nurturing and caring for their children. These motherly responsibilities were often left to the house slaves. As the planter’s children matured and aged, they inherited responsibilities from their parents. Daughters learned to manage affairs and regulate their husbands’ slaves. The sons on the other hand inherited the plantation from their fathers. Continuing the line of purchasing and implementing slaves to their plantation. This case however did not apply to all of the planter’s children. Mulattoes (a person mixed of white and black) that resulted of affairs between the planter and female slaves and/or the planters wives and male slaves lived a difficult life. They were accepted neither by the white or black community. In some instances, the mixed children were given some of the same opportunities as their white siblings but most were secretly sold off, forced to work as slaves, and sometimes killed. The mulatto slaves mainly worked as house slaves. House slaves as the name suggests, were slaves that worked inside the planter’s home. They completed all the chores such as cleaning and cooking but also raised and took care of the planter’s children. Their work was considered easier than field slaves but were the main victims of sexual assault and rape. 

Contrary to the inhabitants of a planter’s home, the life outside the walls was gruesome and tiring. Workdays for slaves began right before the break of light and continued until it was dark. Children from five and up were forced to work the fields along with elders. Underfed and sunburnt, slaves had no other choice but to work over fifteen hours daily with no breaks. After their hours were complete, slaves would retire to their “housings”. These housings of course would be sheds that had no flooring or proper insulation. Roofs leaked and there were no beds or blankets for them to sleep on. They would have to manage with the little sleep they received from these conditions. If a single slave was caught slacking, they would have to answer to the overseer. The overseer was a white male appointed by the planter to conduct the slaves. He kept a whip on his side and enforced inhumane practices to control the behavior. 

One may argue that the Southern plantation lifestyle was not as bad as we make it to be because at the end of the day the slaves were fed, given shelter, and on certain days less work/days off. While this was true, most slaves were malnourished and only ate scraps such as pig feet and vegetable leaves. The shelter they were given had cracks and was an inconvenience since slaves slept on the bare mudded soil.