Cabin for African-American Experience Exhibit

THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE 

            The first half of the nineteenth century witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of slaves in North Carolina.  Much of this increase can be attributed to the rise of the plantation economy and the emergence of cotton as a leading cash crop.  Prices of cotton soared in conjunction with a growing textile market.  Cotton production, however, was toilsome, requiring a large labor source working at often tedious tasks.  Enslaved African Americans provided this labor source to southern planters at a relatively low cost.  Rather than pay wages for workers, planters instead provided shelter, clothing, and food for their slaves.
            The shelter, clothing, and food planters provided varied among plantations, but were always less than desirable.  Housing for slaves consisted primarily of a crudely constructed log house with few furnishings.  Most of these cabins were built to contain two families; some had partitions, while others had none.  The spaces between the logs were often filled with chinking, a pasty substance of mud and straw.  They were often of poor construction, allowing the cold wind and rain to enter.  Most slave quarters had dirt floors and window openings covered with shutters.  Glass was rarely used in the windows because of the expense associated with that particular material.  The chimneys in slave quarters were often constructed of mud and sticks, similar to the chinking material used in the walls.  If the chimney caught fire, slaves had to push it away from the building for fear that the remainder of the structure would also catch fire.  In the summer when the weather was too warm to sleep in the cabins, slaves slept under the trees until around October. 
            The diet of North Carolina slaves was also deficient.  Slaves most likely lacked many of the nutrients their bodies needed.  Cornmeal and pork were given to the slaves each week, along with molasses and occasionally a small amount of coffee.  Besides these basic rations, it was up to the individual master whether or not the slaves received anything else.  Slaves were often given the opportunity to cultivate their own garden.  Planting different crops in personal gardens allowed slaves to vary their diet and experiment with new dishes.  If the master allowed, slaves were allowed to hunt and fish after the day’s workload was completed.  One of the dishes slaves devised was that of kush, a spicy alternative to cornbread.  “Kush was cornmeal, onions, red pepper, salt and grease, that is if [the slaves] had any grease.”[1]

            The slaves’ clothing was usually very rough and inadequate.  Men commonly had only two trousers and two or three shirts to last the year.  The female slaves had a similar number of dresses in dull colors.  These clothes were often made from osnaburg (commonly called “Negro cloth”).  Osnaburg is a heavy course cotton of the kind used today in feed sacks or drapes.  Male and female children wore only a shirt until they were grown, then they started wearing clothes.  Some slaves were given one pair of shoes per year.  Slaves shoes were often very poorly made, making it easy for them to break open.  When they wore out, they went barefooted.    

            The increase of cotton production in North Carolina created a demand for a large labor source.  Cotton required many hands to do backbreaking work for long hours.  It was one of the most demanding and labor intensive crops to produce.  Slaves often rose early to work and stayed in the fields all day.  As slaves did not usually have access to clocks, watches, or other timepieces, they operated on a task-based system; a bell often dictated their schedule for the day.  “The sound of a bell, horn, or conch summoned the slaves to the fields.”[2]  Slaves spent many hours in the field “chopping cotton,” cutting weeds with a hoe.  Spring was a time for planting, while August until November was spent harvesting the crop.  Although both were hard work, picking the cotton by hand was one of the most exhausting tasks that slaves faced.

            Compared to the heavy labor of the cotton fields, the work of a house servant may seem highly desirable.  The physical labor may have been lighter but there were disadvantages to working inside of the dwelling house.  House servants were on call at all times.  Whether it was night or day, these individuals may be called to perform a task.  These slaves had very little privacy or time away from whites and their lives were cut off from much regular contact with the other African Americans on the plantation.  Thus, there were definite prices to pay for the advantages of being a house servant.

            Slaves were valuable property, but that was no guarantee that they would receive good physical treatment.  Some masters treated their slaves well while others had little concern for what was thought of as an inferior race.  Because of this mindset, many slave owners underfed the slaves, and provided them with little care.

            Almost everywhere, slaves regarded whipping and physical abuse was regarded as the worst part of bondage.  A good master was one who whipped the slaves very little, but almost all masters on all types of plantations did some whipping.  Whites regarded the whip as an instrument of labor control and discipline.  They used it to punish those that disobeyed the rules and to frighten and intimidate those that witnessed the whipping.  Thus, the plantation owner heightened authority and supported the plantation order with these beatings.  

            On occasion, slaves were sold away from the plantation.  When a planter needed a new hand or was forced to sell or raise money, he usually went to a fellow planter to avoid the uncertainty which dealing with a speculator involved.  “Only a planter with a refractory Negro on his hands or a man hard pressed for cash went first to a speculator …”[3]  In making her will, Annie Boyce of Mecklenburg County ordered that, upon the sale of her Negroes, “Lucy’s family is not be separated.”  When slaves were sold, they were often taken away from their families with little or no chance of ever seeing them again. 

            A dangerous form of resistance from slavery was that of running away.  Slaves who ran away knew that they had crossed a significant line and, if recaptured, they knew to expect severe physical punishment or perhaps being sold away from the plantation and their families.  Some slaves accomplished this dangerous feat.  The numbers of runaway slaves were few, but almost every slave had heard of an individual that resisted living in bondage for the rest of their life.

            If a slave was fortunate enough to learn how to read and write, he or she was taught by the white children or learned at Sunday school.  “In 1818 Poplar Tent Church in Mecklenburg County was conducting a Sunday School for the black people, from which great advantages had been derived.”[4]  On one rare documented occasion, a master ordered that his slaves be sent to school.  In 1830, the General Assembly passed a law prohibiting anyone from teaching a slave to read or write.  Since knowledge meant power the masters wanted none of it.  “Lord, you better not be caught with a book in your hand,” recalled Louisa Adams.  “If you did, you were sold.  They didn’t allow that.”[5]  After this law was passed, some slaves still secretly learned how to read and write.

            A muster, an election, or a political gathering was often as exciting an occasion to the local slaves as to their masters.  “In 1822 Matthew Baine of Mecklenburg County wanted a law to prevent slaves’ attending general musters and elections, and in 1860 a legislator proposed to fine Masters $100 if they gave their slaves permission to attend political meetings …”[6]  The General Assembly consistently refused to interfere with the rights of the Masters and of local communities in this respect.

Although white southern women were perceived as virtuous and chaste, female African American slaves were barely thought of as women.  The “Cult of True Womanhood,” which dictated the lives of white women, did not include black women.  While it is true that traditionally female jobs, such as cooking, were left to women, most women labored beside the men in the fields.  Slave women were expected to pick fewer pounds of cotton or hoe fewer rows of corn, but the labor was nevertheless heavy and almost never done by white women.  “One former slave, Susan High of Wake County, reported that for her owner women had even ‘cleared land by rollin’ logs into piles and pilin’ brush in the new grounds.”[7]

The slaves in North Carolina were basically a religious people.  Many firmly believed that one day God would deliver them from bondage.  They viewed themselves as a people of faith-the Lord’s people.  Many slaves’ compared themselves to the Israelites who had been Jehovah’s people in biblical times.  They had kept the covenant and had been delivered from bondage.  Thus, when emancipation occurred, many viewed this as the unfolding of God’s plan.  Without a doubt, the Civil War ushered in a new era in African American history.   

            Latta Plantation was one of the many plantations that grew as a result of cotton becoming a profitable crop in the early 1800s.  Little is known about the slaves at Latta Plantation.  An investigation of various public documents and family records provides us with this information on the growth of slavery at Latta Plantation.  The following information is what has been documented through various sources at Latta Plantation.

Census Records:  1800-2 black persons in residence
                                    1820-8 slaves in residence
                                    1830-23 slaves, 11 under age 10

Tax Lists:                  1806-2 black persons
                                    1808-2 black persons
                                    1810-5 black persons
                                    1824-6 black persons

 A census was taken of all persons living in the United States every ten years.  Similar to the modern census still taken today, census records often provide an accurate count of the number of people living in any given location.  Although records vary from state to state, many census records include the ages and occupations of the persons polled. 

A tax list was an inventory of all taxable goods a planter owed.  A discrepancy in slave numbers between the census and tax records obviously exists.  Although the origin of the discrepancy is not known, it is possible that James Latta found loopholes that allowed him to neglect paying taxes on some of his slaves. 

Accounts of local physician, Dr. Caldwell, regarding his calls to Latta Plantation: 

1828:                           ferriage Negro and horse 12
Nov. 27, 1829:            visit, Negro woman, $1.00
June 10, 1830:             coth for Lewis, .25
Sept. 16, 1830:            medicine, Negro girl, .25
1831:                           visit Negro George, pills, no. 30, $2.00
July 6, 1831:                visit Cato per noctum (2) dressing his head (lacerated scalp)
Feb. 8, 1832:              emetic and coth for Negro Liwis, .50

 Many southern planters were quick to provide medical care for their slaves.  A slave that developed an illness or infection could die, which would decrease the planter’s labor supply.  Also, the medical attention of a doctor often helped return the slave to the field in a better working condition.  

Family Correspondence and Notation: 

December, 1812:          (Account notation) Paid Major Rufus Reid for Sucky and child bought at sheriff’s sale ($400)

May 14, 1825:             (Letter) “William was bitten by a snake, Ben one of the black men, applied herbs to it.”

June 30, 1825:              (Contract) Hiring Jess Riley as overseer, to be kept in house until overseer’s house is built.

Dec. 27, 1825:             (Receipt) Board and stabling, including one day board for servant.

Nov. 28, 1826:             (Letter) “Mr. McLaughlin and Mr. Hutchinson left Friday for York, as well as Ned and the horses.”

Feb. 17, 1832:             (Letter, James Latta to Rufus Reid) sending Louie ($400), Isac ($400), John, Sarah and child ($550) to sell or hire out, request Louie to be sold outside of the community.

April 14, 1837:             (Letter, Nancy Reid to James Latta) “will send this letter by Mr. Torrance’s Peter.”

Wills and amendments of James Latta: 

July 22, 1822:               Sucky and youngest child to his wife, Jane, boy George ($450) to Elizabeth Davidson, boy Peter ($550) to Mary Torrance, boy Cato ($450) to Nancy.

March 22, 1832:          To Robert Latta: Phillip, Andy, Mary.

July 24, 1832:               To wife: Sucky, To Elizabeth: boy Peter, To son-in-law Rufus Reid: Ned, Darky, Polly, Levi, Moses, Charly, Amey, Cato, Tom, and George. (amendment) To James Torrance: Abby, Patience, Lavinia, Martha, Norfolk, and Terry.

Nov. 8, 1832:               To Betsy’s children: Harriet, Becky, and Luis.

Sept. 5, 1833:              To Rufus Reid (for use by Mary Reid): Willy, Tony, Polly, and Rachel. 

Estate Sale:                (Upon death of James Latta in 1837) At end of sale inventory is written the names of 12 slaves: Peter, Sucky, Alexander, Levy, Moses, Darky and child, Tom, Ned, Cato, Amey, and Patty. 

April 1840

Court Session:            Rufus Reid, rent for estate of James Latta and lists Amy, Ned, Darky and child, Patty, Moses, Cato, Levy, Tom, Peter, Sucky and child, and Alex. 

From examining these various documents, it is possible that James Latta owned around
23 slaves at one time.  This number of slaves indicates that James Latta owned an

average size plantation.  Most of these slaves probably worked in the cotton fields or

were domestic slaves.  

James Latta also placed a runaway slave advertisement in the Catawba Journal, August 29, 1826.  Although James’ treatment of his slaves is unknown, it can be inferred that

slavery at Latta Plantation was horrible enough to prompt a runaway.  The penalty for

running away was often death, and few slaves took the risk. 

SUGGESTED READINGS ON THE African-American Experience 

Faust, Drew Gilpin. James Henry Hammond and the Old South: A Design for Mastery.

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1982. 

Franklin, John Hope, and Alfred A. Moss, Jr. From Slavery to Freedom: A History of

Negro Americans. 6^th ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988. 

Franklin, John Hope. The Free Negro in North Carolina. Chapel Hill: The University of

North Carolina Press, 1995. 

Genovese, Eugene D. Roll, Jordan, Roll. New York: Vintage Books, 1976.

Hurmence, Belinda, Editor. My Folks Don’t Want Me To Talk About Slavery. Winston

Salem: John F. Blair, Publisher, 1984.

Inscoe, John C. Mountain Masters, Slavery, and the Sectional Crisis in Western North

Carolina. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1989. 

Stampp, Kenneth M. The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South. New

York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956. 

White, Deborah Gray. Ar’n’t I a Woman?: Female Slaves in the Plantation South. New

York: W.W. Norton, 1985.

Latta Plantation African American Research Books