rice fields
Both of these pictures are of slaves working in the rice fields.
Above is a picture of a rice field and how it is planted.
Rice was a big crop in the Carolinas and most people didn’t want
to grow it themselves. Instead
they bought slaves. More
specifically, slaves from West Africa.
These slaves from West Africa were the best at growing rice because they
did it in their own country. There
were different kinds of rice, semi-aquatic is an example.
Slave owners didn’t want to grow rice themselves as it is a very labor
intensive crop. The rice would be
planted in the spring and the slaves would have the sun shining down on them
making them even warmer than they would have been with the work they are
doing. They were also always bent
over resulting in back problems and back pain. The slaves would sing to keep in unison
with each other’s planting. They
would rhythmically plant and hoe the ground. There were three main tools for rice
harvesting. One, a knife was
used to separate the rice grains from the long wheat-like stalks.
Two, the winnowing basket which is used once the rice has been
threshed. The women slaves them
bought the rice into the basket.
They then would gently shake the basket and toss the grains into the
air. The wind blew the chaff away
and the rice fell back into the basket.
Slaves who had grown too old for the tough work would make the baskets
using the grass by the ocean. The
final step, called whitening, is where they used the pestle (the long pole) and
the mortar (bowl) so the hull of the rice fell off.
In the swampy rice fields many snakes, alligators, and bugs lurked. Mosquitos carried diseases such as
malaria and yellow fever. Because
of this, rice field workers usually died earlier than other workers.
Rice was a moneymaking crop so plantation owners didn’t mind spending
money on slaves to do the work for them, resulting in a huge population of
slaves in the Carolinas.
to grow it themselves. Instead
they bought slaves. More
specifically, slaves from West Africa.
These slaves from West Africa were the best at growing rice because they
did it in their own country. There
were different kinds of rice, semi-aquatic is an example.
Slave owners didn’t want to grow rice themselves as it is a very labor
intensive crop. The rice would be
planted in the spring and the slaves would have the sun shining down on them
making them even warmer than they would have been with the work they are
doing. They were also always bent
over resulting in back problems and back pain. The slaves would sing to keep in unison
with each other’s planting. They
would rhythmically plant and hoe the ground. There were three main tools for rice
harvesting. One, a knife was
used to separate the rice grains from the long wheat-like stalks.
Two, the winnowing basket which is used once the rice has been
threshed. The women slaves them
bought the rice into the basket.
They then would gently shake the basket and toss the grains into the
air. The wind blew the chaff away
and the rice fell back into the basket.
Slaves who had grown too old for the tough work would make the baskets
using the grass by the ocean. The
final step, called whitening, is where they used the pestle (the long pole) and
the mortar (bowl) so the hull of the rice fell off.
In the swampy rice fields many snakes, alligators, and bugs lurked. Mosquitos carried diseases such as
malaria and yellow fever. Because
of this, rice field workers usually died earlier than other workers.
Rice was a moneymaking crop so plantation owners didn’t mind spending
money on slaves to do the work for them, resulting in a huge population of
slaves in the Carolinas.
These are the three main tools for the rice harvesting.