How Were Slaves Treated In The 1800s

Slave treatment has always been an issue throughout history. The mistreatment of slaves during the mid-1800’s caused many slaves to run away or even start a slave rebellion. Just like in the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim ran away from his slave owner. The mistreatment of slaves varied depending on the plantation or farm and who the owner of the slaves were. Many slaves could have been treated differently depending on their values or skillsets they had. Some were treated all the same whether they did what was right or wrong, but not all slaves were mistreated. Some were taught to read and write, but the majority of the slave population were seen as objects and treated like property. The conditions the slaves worked in also varied depending on the plantation or farm. The article “Slave Life and Slave Codes stated, “Life on the fields meant working sunup to sundown six days a week and having food sometimes not suitable for an animal to eat.”(ushistory.org). Working on a plantation was even worse if their overseer was cruel and harsh. The overseer got paid only to get the most work out of the slaves. Larger plantations needed slaves to work inside the house. Those slaves chosen to do this had much better circumstances. They were given better food and

“Blanco brought them, along with several hundred other enslaved Africans, across an eight- week Middle Passage to Havana, Cuba, in mid- June of 1839. He succeeded in breaking international law and evading confiscation of his human cargo in doing so.” (Carretta). Slaves that decided to run away instead of rebel could take others that were being mistreated with them. Slaves that did run away always headed to the North where the Free states were. Jim, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, decided to run away with Huck to the Free states in the North because he felt he was being mistreated. Eventually the abolition of slavery took place in