![]() Males were valued 10 to 20 percent more than females at age ten, children's prices were about half that of a prime male field hand. They rose to a high of about $1,250 during the cotton boom of the late 1830s, fell to below half that level in the 1840s, and rose to about $1,450 in the late 1850s. ![]() Prices of enslaved people varied widely over time. It accounted for the sale-and resulting destruction of families and social networks-of as many as two million Black people from Richmond to the Deep South, where the cotton industry provided a market for enslaved labor. ![]() Richmond became the largest slave-trading center in the Upper South, and the slave trade was Virginia’s largest industry. Pork and corn were the primary rations issued to those who were enslaved, but they were supplemented by plants and animals grown or raised or gathered from nearby rivers and fields.Īfter an 1808 act of Congress abolished the international slave trade, a domestic trade flourished. Music was incorporated into religious ceremonies as shouts and “sorrow songs ” “field hollers” and work songs helped coordinate group tasks and satirical songs were a form of resistance that commented on the injustices of the slave system.Īfrican Americans adapted Indigenous, European, and African food traditions-such as deep-fat frying, gumbo, and fricassee-to feed their own families as well as those of their enslavers. The musical traditions of enslaved communities merged European practices with intricate rhythm patterns, off-key notes, foot patting, and a strong rhythmic drive. The central figures were cunning tricksters, often represented as tortoises, spiders, or rabbits, who defeated more powerful enemies through wit and guile, not power and authority. Through folklore, they maintained a sense of identity and taught valuable lessons to their children. Religious meetings-whether secret gatherings in the woods or church congregations-became crucibles for collective activism.Įnslaved African Americans continued a rich tradition of African parables, proverbs, and legends. They also helped preserve African traditions through music, funeral customs, and call-and-response forms of worship. Baptist and Methodist ministers preached hope and redemption to enslaved people who fashioned Christian gospels into a communal music of spirituals about salvation, deliverance, and resistance. Religious practices nurtured the soul and fostered pride and identity in the face of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and segregation. Throughout slavery and beyond, spirituality and the church served a vital role in Black communities. Language, music, cuisine, and architecture in the United States are all heavily influenced by African traditions and are part of a uniquely American culture. At the same time, enslaved Black people exerted a profound influence on all aspects of American culture. Through their families, religion, folklore, and music, as well as more direct forms of resistance, African Americans resisted the debilitating effects of slavery and created a vital culture supportive of human dignity. On Sundays, enslaved individuals tended to their own gardens and livestock provided by their enslavers, practiced religion, and engaged with family and friends. A smaller group of men and women cooked, cleaned, served meals, and raised the children of the enslaver’s family. Trained craftspeople worked in skilled trades such as coopering, blacksmithing, and carpentry. The majority of enslaved men, women, and children provided agricultural labor for their enslavers. In 1861, they formed the new state of West Virginia rather than join the Confederacy. In 1829, white citizens there demanded representation in a government controlled by easterners with different interests. In the western counties, rugged terrain made slavery impractical. In 1842, the English novelist Charles Dickens wrote of the “gloom and dejection” and “ruin and decay” that he attributed to “this horrible institution.”Ī majority of inhabitants in some of Virginia’s eastern counties were held in bondage. Travelers to Virginia were appalled by the system of slavery they saw practiced there. The 550,000 enslaved Black people living in Virginia constituted one third of the state’s population in 1860.
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