Throughout the early history of The United States of America, most southern plantations relied on african american slaves for cheap labor. Most slaves were one of two types of workers, house and field slaves. Even though they were both treated poorly, house slaves were generally treated better than field slaves because they usually enjoyed greater privileges than field slaves. In the early years of America, slaves were usually owned by wealthy, southern landowners. A slave was the owner’s property, which allowed the owner to do bassically whatever he/she wanted. If a white person was to produce a child with a slave, that child would still remain a slave. The masters had complete control over the slaves’ lives. One slave, William Green, wrote about his time as a slave. He said that one master was so cruel as to have an elderly woman freeze to death looking for sheep. In addition, he talked about his mother’s death and how his master would not allow him to go see his dying mother. Most masters tended to be insanely cruel and had that right. …show more content…
The house slaves mostly lived in the manor with their masters. Also, they did not receive harsh punishments like the field slaves. They were not usually whipped or beat, they had to look presentable for their masters and their guests. One slave wrote about her uncle who was a doorman and a waiter for their master. She described their clothes as nice, with brass buttons and gloves. Field slaves however, were lucky to have more than two shirts. In addition, many of the house slaves did not eat what the field slaves normally consumed. Due to their living arrangements, many of the house slaves ate in the manor. They wate a variety of wholesome foods from the kitchen. Overall, many of the house slaves were treated exponentially better than the field slaves. They had better clothes, less intense punishments, and overall more