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Jevin Riven

Dr. Arata

Survey of American History

18 November 2015

Living Conditions

The living conditions for African-Americans in the nineteenth and early twentieth

centuries were almost identical, but when it comes to the nineteenth century its a bit harsher

than the following century. In the nineteenth century slavery was still an ongoing problem in the

country. African-Americans had no rights whatsoever. The living conditions were god-awful. The

chances of getting somewhere, anywhere near relatively decent were slim to none. In the

twentieth century living conditions vastly improved. Since slavery wasnt around anymore and

African-Americans had more chances to secure safer and nicer housing, but still had a

challenging time doing so. Though the times werent as hard as the nineteenth century, they were

still dreadful. Novels like 12 Years a Slave and Coming of Age in Mississippi can explain living

conditions. During the durations of the lives of Solomon Northup and Anne Essie Mae Moody

they experienced hardships beyond normal measures. They experienced things like tiny quarters,

ill treatment, and shortage of food.

Solomon Northup was an African American man born free in New York. In 1841 he was

deceived into thinking he was getting work in a circus. He woke up from an illness lonesome and

in a dark place. He was eventually sold into slavery and wouldnt meet freedom for another

twelve years. During the time of enslavement slaves encountered mass amounts of abuse and

torture. All in all, the living conditions of slaves during this period of history were repulsive and
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dehumanized them with no concern for their well being. Such conditions included slave pens,

and transportation boats, and were always accompanied by inhumane treatment.

Among all the types of living conditions, slave pens are the most widely known, but no

two are identical. In Richmond, one of the slave pens held about fifty people. The only options to

sleep would be the ground or maybe some would have a loft. On the rice plantations, slaves

lived in extremely harsh conditions (Foner, 114). Some were confined to a Williams slave pen

which is a four iron walled room with no windows or floors. It was pitch black and visibility

through the cracks was limited. Slaves would sometimes only see light when the door was

opened. To keep warm in the winter starting a campfire in your pen or cabin was essential to

keeping the slaves alive. When bad weather struck some slave cabins were damaged. Water

would seep through the cracks in the logs and destroy the inside, and most of the time depending

on the master, the slaves would have to make the repairs. When it came to bedding, slaves didnt

get very much, the slave would get a blanket at most. Most of the time they didnt have beds or

cots. At times slaves would try to use moss as bedding but then it would attract fleas. In some

situations, such as when Northup was almost killed by Tibeats, the slave master Ford gave

Northup a temporary safe haven They left me in the cabin, that I might rest. Blessed be

sleep!(Northup, 100). This was a rare occasion because no matter how much the master liked

you, being able to stay in the house for such a small bit of time is still considered outrageous.

Some slaves got it good and liked their living conditions but others werent so lucky.

Furthermore, the living conditions on transportation boats were far worse in terms of

passenger hygiene and health, and the actual size of living space. People would often get sick

and throw up around the living area. Personal hygiene is a hard one to keep up with as a slave.

Diseases quickly spread in these transportation boats due to lack of medical care available to the
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slaves and how close of proximity these slaves were forced to live in. All of the slaves had to

sleep in the hold of the ship, and it was very difficult to find a comfortable spot. When slaves

were beaten and they had gashes and lashes across their back. These open wounds would get

infected due to the non-sanitary conditions around the slave quarters. When slaves would get

sick, they were rarely taken to the hospital, most masters would just ignore their pleas. One man

by the name of Robert, who was one of these boats developed smallpox along the voyage. He

eventually died, to dispose of the body, they wrapped him in his blanket with rocks and dropped

him overboard. He continued to grow worse, and four days previous to our arrival in New

Orleans he died. One of the sailors sewed him in his blanket, with a large stone from the ballast

at his feet, and then laying him on a hatchway, and elevating it with tackles above the railing, the

inanimate body of poor Robert was consigned to the white waters of the gulf (Northup, 44).

Alongside these horrible living conditions, the treatment these slaves received further

worsened their quality of life. Nutrition for the slaves was hard to come by. Some plantations

like in 12 Years a Slave would receive 3 and a half pounds of bacon and a small of amount of

corn. At times they would get rotten food with maggots or worms. When Northup was on the

boat getting transported the men gave him a piece of dried pork, a slice of bread and a cup of

water. When food was given to slaves a high percentage of the time the amount of food given

was not enough to maintain a healthy body. Improper feeding led to less work, which meant less

profit for the plantations. As most know masters werent the best hosts to the slaves. Countless

after countless times would they be beaten and whipped out of pure enjoyment. Master Epps

would make them dance all night while he was whipping them. No matter how tired they got he

would make them go all night. He would get continuous enjoyment out of the slaves torment. In

Give Me Liberty Eric Foner quotes a slave master, Even a planter like Landon Carter, who
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prided himself on his concern for the well-being of his slaves, noted casually in his diary. they

have been severely whipped day by day (Foner, 110). Cruelty came by extremely often for the

slaves. One of the most terrifying things for the slaves would be when the women would get

raped. Some slaves would have children with their masters.

Many slaves didnt make it through slavery due to the living conditions. Many suffered

through pain that is unspeakable. Understanding the thinking of the people during these times

will always be a mystery. Slavery is one of the few things that will never come back around due

to books like Twelve Years a Slave, and Uncle Toms Cabin. A lot of lessons were learned through

these books. No one will ever sincerely know how ruthless the living conditions of slavery were.

Slavery is one of those things that will always be in the past and left there. Once slavery had

ended there was a period of not knowing what exactly was going on in the treatment of African-

Americans. Once emancipated the slaves earned a better place in society and gained better lives

in general.

Essie Mae Moody, who is later known as Anne Moody born in September of 1940. She

was the first born of eight children. In her very early years her parents were sharecroppers and

the living conditions were horrible and as her family started to increase the space didnt always

go with what was going on with her life. Throughout Essies life she endured countless days with

the bare minimum to eat, and after countless times of moving, finding somewhere remotely

livable to suffice for her family was a constant struggle. . Her constant battle against herself, her

family, and her community fueled with what has now come to be Coming of Age in Mississippi.

The first home Anne could remember was on what was a former slave plantation turned

sharecropping plantation. It was a very tiny two-room shack made out of old rotten wood.

Resembling many slave pens from the nineteenth century, they all slept in the same room. The
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only thing separating the two is the kitchen with wood stove. Some that did not change from the

nineteenth century to the twentieth century is the fact that the slave master or owner of the

sharecropping plantation had many more amenities than the African-Americans they owned or

employed. The master in Coming of Age in Mississippi had electricity throughout the house, in

12 Years a Slave electricity was for anyone. The chances of Solomon getting electricity were

slim to none.

As time went by, things worsened for the Moody family. Annes parents split up and they

had to move in with her Aunt Cindy. Miss Cindy already had a full house with her husband and

six children, so fitting in another family of four werent the ideal living situation for a house with

only four rooms, Anne and her family had to sleep four to a bed. Then time continues to move on

and the situation for African-Americans improves and Moodys mother is able to rent a little

two-room house. There were times when getting food was hard and Moodys mother would steal

corn from the field, she worked at to feed her family. Sometimes they would get the leftovers

from the family her mother worked for. Then Mrs. Johnson started giving her the dinner

leftovers and we ate those (Moody, 39). Anne had to walk four miles to school, back then it

was rare for an African-American school to be near since they all had to stay in certain areas and

couldnt get multiple options like the fairer white people. The living situation for the Moody

family increased significantly when they moved again, but to a bigger two-room house. Anne

was excited because she had to walk less than a mile to school. This was a big change for the

African-American community since there was no schooling for African-Americans back in the

nineteenth century. Her school was also segregated. Segregated schools are not equal and

cannot be made equal, and that hence they are deprived of the equal protection of the law
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(Foner, 1147). Then times hit hard again and Junior, who is Annes oldest younger brother

burned the house down on accident and the family had to move again.

They moved to a better place according to Anne. The house they had moved into had new

wooden planks and also had an indoor toilet. Having an indoor toilet inside an African-American

home wasnt common. Many homes for them were without one and they had to use outhouses.

Sort of like how the situation for the slaves were, but for them sometimes they maybe had to use

the restroom wherever they were. Annes mother eventually met a man by the name of Raymond.

Once again, they moved, but this time it seemed like the last. Raymond built a house for them

and what beautiful house it was. Soon times hit the fan again. Raymond lost his job and the

family went back to eating plain old beans and bread.

Times were rough for the African-Americans in the nineteenth and twentieth century

there is no denying it. Finding a suitable living situation to support a growing family was very

problematic. Many people had to succumb to doing things they wouldnt normally do to secure

that safe housing. For women who worked as maids they would work countless hours keeping

the affairs of their employers in check to only make a few dollars a week and that would barely

keep the bills paid. Men also went to work long shifts in factories or out in the fields to earn a

diminishing pay. For slaves they had a rough time, but they at least would always have a roof

over their head since their master needed them alive to work. Unlike in the twentieth century,

they had to work to make ends meet and if they didnt make enough they were put out on the

street. The comparison for each is immeasurable. The people of today couldnt imagine some of

the things that happened to the early activists and significant others who put their life on the line

for the cause. Its books like 12 Years a Slave and Coming of Age in Mississippi that show the

world why history cant repeat itself.

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Works Cited

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty. Fifth ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2015. Print.

Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi. New York: Dial, 1968. Print.

Northrup, Solomon. 12 Years a Slave. Los Angeles: Graymalkin Media, 2014.