Slave Cabin

by Cheri Randolph

Title

Slave Cabin

Artist

Cheri Randolph

Medium

Photograph

Description

One of the existing slave quarter cabins at San Francisco sugar plantation located 40 miles up river from New Orleans. This would have housed 2 slave families.

In contrast to the harsh working conditions in the fields and in the sugarhouse, slaves and freedmen did enjoy a limited social life. Because their mobility was limited, social interaction and family life was more, rather than less important to slaves and freedmen. The quarters and the relative privacy they provided from the direct supervision of the master and overseer was vital to their sense of family and provided them with a small measure of independence. The cabins were also the place where traditional beliefs were practiced and passed on from parents to children.

By the 1830s, slave owners with large plantations had become more concerned with the design and uniformity of their quarters' housing. The cabins, which were probably built by the slaves, were constructed according to a strict European-American style. The cabins often conformed to a conventional range of size and design and showed little evidence of direct African influence. After 1825, typical slave housing on large Louisiana sugar plantations was the single- or double-family frame cabin.

Excavation of the cabin sites and their surrounding yards has provided a unique view of the lives of the people who kept the plantation alive. Historical records indicate that most slave holders, allowed their slaves to have gardens. Vegetable gardens were generally located inside fenced yards. In addition to growing such vegetables as black-eyed peas, collards, cabbages, and turnips, slaves often raised poultry, rabbits, and hogs. They occasionally sold the surplus to their own masters, providing the slaves with much-needed cash.

In addition to the monetary incentive of having a garden, it also allowed the slaves to vary their diet. Information is limited on the diet of African-Americans living on plantations, because most excavations have focused on great houses rather than on the quarters. Historical records state that the foundation of the slave diet was cornmeal and salt pork, issued by the slave owner. The average ration was about three and one-half pounds of pork and eight quarts of cornmeal per week for each slave. Obviously, without the addition of vegetables, this diet would be far from nutritious.

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August 25th, 2012

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