Sapelo, a barrier island about the size of Manhattan, has about 50 residents, primarily descendants of African slaves who settled here after slavery was outlawed. Learn how your comment data is processed. SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York. The author of the letter (slave owner Robert W. Gibbs) is described in the newspaper article as one of the most intelligent physicians of the South and a gentleman of the highest personal character and consideration. In the actual letter Gibbs also establishes his own qualifications for speaking about the treatment of southern slaves by stating that he has cared for several thousands of slaves in his lifetime. Upon hearing that these are the types of food that slaves were eating, as well as the extensive medical care provided to slaves, a layman that was ignorant of southern slavery practices would certainly be swayed in favor of slavery. And, they still play a role in our modern diet. She is a doctoral student at the University of Georgia. It was put into a large wooden tray or trough, and set down upon the ground. Rice is not native to the United States. In a burgeoning market society, finding goods for sale was not terribly difficult, as store merchants were more than happy to take slaves cash. How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. Agricultural journals and plantation records burst with strategies and advice. Slaveholders imagined themselves as models of economic propriety and their memoirs reveal much moralizing over choices made by their slaves. ", Georgia chef and farmer Matthew Raiford is able to reconstruct his family's past through his farm, which has been in his family since 1874. The stories of enslaved cooks teach us that we can love our country and also be critical of it, and find some peace along the way. Organization of American Historians Plus, a sweet potato puree adds creamy richness. Despite the newspapers warnings, white Southerners could not have been surprised to see enslaved buyers browsing goods for sale. What if we could clean them out? Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA Collection. Well cook three representative dishes, each of which can help us understand a slightly different aspect of the food experiences of the Revolutionary Era slave. X11ej9G}R)\.}F5aj??*? 112 N. Bryan Ave., Bloomington, IN 47408 Jollof rice, a classic staple in Nigeria and Ghana morphed into Jambalaya. In fact, okra is what helps thicken gumbo. 8LX Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). House Slaves: An Overview | Encyclopedia.com What struck me is the summary of the June 1777, I agree, and checked my source before submitting. Photo by Henry P. Moore. Part of a feature about the archaeology of slavery on St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean, from the International Slavery Museum's website. PDF Childhood Slavery in North America - The National Archives Sources are exceptionally scarce and contemporary recipes are nonexistent, but we can reconstruct some idea of what the table in the slaves quarters might have offered to maintain these unfortunate souls in their labors. I also love adding greens to stews like my West African Peanut Butter Curry Stew. The revisionism went full throttle during the era of Jim Crow, when new laws made segregation the norm. A slave plantation was an agricultural farm that used enslaved people for labour. Heres the technology that helped scientists find itand what it may have been used for. The process for converting plain corn to the more-digestible hominy, which involves soaking in lye (extracted from ashes), was taught to the earliest settlers by the Native Americans. But Bailey says her favorite way to eat the peas is in a traditional dish with stewed meat and okra, another plant that originated in Africa. They might change the appearance of an itemremoving an owners mark, for example, or tailoring a piece of clothingor they could hide the item away, saving it for future use. Before long, plantations were founded by colonists, such as Shirley Plantation, constructed circa 1613; Berkeley Hundred, and Flowerdew Hundred, whose 1,000 acres extended along the James River. But the country began recalibrating its memories of black cooking even before the Civil War, erasing the brutality and hardships of slavery from a story of Old Southern graciousness. [iii] Covey, Herbert, and Dwight Eisnach. Should they free themselves individually or wait until they had saved enough to buy kin as well? What did slaves eat on plantations? Serve immediately, with pepper sauce if desired. Records from six antebellum stores across Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia indicate that enslaved consumers spent hard-earned cash on a wide variety of goods. Wrap in foil: Yet, this technique draws directly from Africa. Please be respectful of copyright. "They could have been gone 300 years ago, but to say my great-great-great-grandparents used to use this and cook this and plant this, that gives you a good feeling.". "Those conversations need to happen so everyone has a voice at the table. Buyers on the black market, then, had to alter behavior so that they could consume goods without discovery. Internal economy focused political struggle, and consumption was deeply woven into the tragic and tangled fabric of the master-slave relation. Sugar plantations everywhere were disproportionate consumers of labor, often enslaved, because of the high mortality of the plantation laborers. These staples of our modern diets are part of our culture now because slaves smuggled them and cultivated them, sometimes in secret. Slave Consumption in the Old South: A Double-Edged Sword Serve with plain white rice, perhaps cooked with a little extra water, so that it softens a bit more than usual, and if you have it, dash some pepper sauce over it to liven up the flavor. Throughout history domestic service was probably the major slave occupation. [an error occurred while processing this directive]. Slaveholders lamented the theft of plantation stores, noting that slaves traded purloined corn, cotton, and bacon for goods of their choosing or cash outright. Morning meals were prepared and consumed at daybreak in the slaves' cabins. Slavery had associated with it the health problems commonly associated with poverty. 6 cups (1.25 liter) water If a traveler showed up, day or night, bells would ring for the enslaved cook to prepare food. Slaves planted the seeds of favorite foods they were forced to leave behind. Africans made up 40 percent of the Souths population.[1]. It is often smoked or roasted at Fall Pumpkin festivals. Red peas are a tangible connection to her own African heritage, Bailey says, and one reason why she has started to grow the crop commercially. Food items included alcohol, sugar, molasses, flour, coffee, rice, spices, butter, cheese, bacon, candy, cakes, and tea. Number of slaves in the Upper South: 1,208,758 (29% of total population) 4,165 million. For decades, the bang of the gavel had broadcast both triumph and tragedy in Virginias capital as propertylivestock, furniture, human soulstraded in the citys busy auction houses. Most slaves were fed heavily on corn, and there were just a few areas in the new nation where rice was so plentiful that it supplanted corn in their diets. The slaves then had to adapt their African rice dishes to fit the limited ingredients they had in America. However, they closely resembled the yams harvested in West Africa. Heat in a Dutch oven or other large pot with a cover: In Ghana and Nigeria, fufu is a starchy mash used to sop up the broth at the bottom of bowl of stew. %PDF-1.4 Edit View history The health of slaves on American plantations was a matter of concern to both slaves and their owners. Certainly, enslaved people found timepieces desirable because they were useful, but also because they were markers of wealth and status. The primary challenge, Harris says, is reconstructing history when one group of peoplein this case, white slave ownersdid their best to subjugate Africans to the point where they were nearly left out entirely. 3: 81. This page was last edited on 11 October 2022, at 21:29. The master class scraped to make ends meet. For masters and bondpeople alike, the internal economy both challenged the institution of slavery and shored it up. In fact, okra is what helps thicken gumbo. [7] Hilliard, Masters, Slaves, and Exchange, 6993. All rights reserved, Culinary historian and author Jessica Harris. At this time, Europe was starting to industrialize, and it needed a lot of materials to manufacture goods. Fewer than one-third of Southern families owned slaves at the peak of slavery prior to the Civil War. [4], As the plantation economy expanded, the slave trade grew to meet the growing demand for labor. stream Too dear to purchase legally, watches in particular found a ready trade, highlighting an important characteristic in the consumption of stolen goods. During the slave trade, they brought with them their appreciation for okra, including it in stews that are signature to Soul food. Peddlers and wagoners roved from farm to plantation, selling trinkets, candies, cakes, and often alcohol. Slavery - Agriculture | Britannica "Yet gumbo has become totemic," says Harris, "linked forever in the American mind, particularly with southern Louisiana.". The indigo crop was grown for making blue indigo dye in the pre-industrial age. You also see evidence of this multi-cultural transformation in so-called receipt books, handwritten cookbooks from the 18th and 19th centuries. While the missus may have helped design the menu, or provided some recipes, it was the enslaved cooks who created the meals that made Virginia, and eventually the South, known for its culinary fare and hospitable nature. African rice often accompanied slave voyages. Sugar plantation in the British colony of Antigua, 1823. In their limited personal time, enslaved people kept fruit and vegetable gardens, raised poultry, and foraged for wild plants. 5U67n 3e7o_y$( +_* %YqYV/P)'.M Terms of Use By the Civil Wars last weary winter, Confederate Richmond, had become accustomed to the pounding of artillery echoing across nearby fields. Private moments were rare, as was rest. Gibbs, Robert. Though the modern dish of the Carolinas, Hoppin' John, was not described in print until the publication in 1847 of Sarah Rutledge's Carolina Housewife, its roots are believed to lie in the Senegalese dish, thibou nib.. Black-eyed peas were introduced in the Americas around the middle of the 18th century, and were noted in some of Washington's writings and . Goodloe, for example, advised slaveholders to allow supervised shopping trips. Another ingredient that came from Africa was okra. So, given the risks enslaved consumers posed, why did slaveholders allow their people to trade? Cultivation of sugar had to follow a precise scientific system to profit from the production. Colonial and antebellum elite Southerners understood fully that enslaved people cooked their food. But from its most famous to its anonymous practitioners, the story of Southern cuisine is inseparable from the story of American racism. Manufactured goods, of higher value, were then sold both to Africa and the New World. Early receipt books are dominated by European dishes: puddings, pies, and roasted meats. A customer at Holland Bottom Farms in Cabot, Arkansas, reaches for tomatoes and okra. What documentation exists of what rations slaveholders provided is typically from later periods, but it would be in their own interest to ensure that their labor force was well-nourished enough to work effectively. For men and women so bent on control, slaves with cashand vendors ready to take itposed risks far beyond the material, however. (Creeks, Choctaws, and . Weekly food rations usually corn meal, lard, some meat, molasses, peas, greens, and flour were distributed every Saturday. To honor their legacy, let us remember the role they play in our nations food history. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine 25 Slaves often gardens grew sweet potatoes in their gardens, utilizing skills that African Americans passed down from generation to generation. Beef and hawgs and bacon and syrup and sugar and flour was plenty. At first, the cooks they hired on plantations were indentured servants, workers who toiled without pay for a contractually agreed-upon period of time before eventually earning their freedom. The Soul of Food - US History Scene ". Number of slaves in the Border States: 432,586 (13% of total population) 3,323 million. Choice implied agency and that agency undermined masters rule. The slaves made up 80% of the property value of the plantation. In the mill, the cane was crushed using a three-roller mill. 8H^IBL,c~`x^',M pR5i?mT{QfwN se!ntRZ.Y2 B9G5<2h7POdS_]g*lXBN[g5=jV#NT 8u;MnOn/n VFAh.l~)Ra@6!vmR@JHI )HiZ 8@hw+ev#ZV'Wby-sOATsf:!S",K t1*m!6>2 Gb-xhD=pdW{ @|O. Onions could be grown in the yard, alongside the black-eyed peas. They also sold items at the weekly market in Alexandria to earn small amounts of money. They were given a. Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Plantation, "How Slavery Helped Build a World Economy", http://abolition.e2bn.org/slavery_42.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slave_plantation&oldid=1115516973. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods. What did slaves eat in the 1800s? - Quora This in turn may have had a very wide impact on the foodways of the entire country, as plantations and other slave-owning businesses played vital roles in the production and circulation of food and food-related items in early America. What food did the slaves eat? - MassInitiative Food George Washington's Mount Vernon [i] Rutledge, Sarah. Jones was a slave who started as a house servant and rose to the pinnacle of American culinary life with her extravagant multicourse meals. As Booker T. Washington recounts in his Slave Diet Bulletin, a common breakfast was cornbread and pork. While it might be fun to think about boiled sweet potatoes and cornbread, we must also remember the dark truth of slavery. 1 tsp (5 ml) salt, Add, stirring constantly: Fantastic work and writing. The new year once started in Marchhere's why, Jimmy Carter on the greatest challenges of the 21st century, This ancient Greek warship ruled the Mediterranean, How cosmic rays helped find a tunnel in Egypt's Great Pyramid, Who first rode horses? What did the slaves eat? Of course, nobody at that time had any sense of vitamins or trace minerals, but some cookbooks of the period do have lengthy discourses on the importance of balance of different sorts in ones diet. While it is a shameful chapter in our national past, the fact of slavery during the Revolutionary Era is inescapable, and part of understanding how the people of this nascent country ate is exploring how the slaves were fed. The practice was abolished in most places during the 19th century. Some indentured servants were also leaving to start their own farms as land was widely available. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. On days when that wasnt available, hed head to the animal shed. Slaveholders lamented spending on alcohol most of all, complaining that it caused disorder on the plantation and hindered productivity, but memoirs, slave narratives, and court records indicate that rum and liquor were highly sought. Cookie Settings, Courtesy of Internet Archive Book Images, via Wikimedia Commons, Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7, Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar, Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds, Rare Jurassic-Era Insect Discovered at Arkansas Walmart. Take [your] negroes to the nearest dry goods store (do not let them go alone) and let them select such things as suit their fancies, he advised. PDF The Final Slave Diet Site Bulletin - National Park Service They constructed potato holes, often near the fire, where they would bury their sweet potatoes. (n.d.). But their enslaved ancestors were forced to eat whatever was provided to them by the slave owners. Post-emancipation America still relied heavily on the skills and labor of newly freed African Americans. They also had to feed every free person who passed through the plantation. For Trinidadians, Callaloo is one part of their national dish: Crab and Callaloo- a dish which was created by the African slaves sometime around 1530 when the island was under Spanish occupation. The Southern Colonies: Plantations and Slavery, Plantation System. City newspapers noted the Army of the Potomacs unrelenting pressure on nearby Petersburg, but the sieges long familiarity muted the panic that dull roar might have incited only three years before. However, the historical roots of both dishes have so much to teach us about the slave experience that its worth including them together here. The Bantu people originated in Central Africa, near Nigeria and the Congo. What Did Slaves Eat? - Cooking Tom Once landed, the survivors were sold as chattel labor to work colonial mines and plantations. favorite foods. A reason many did not make it to the colonies at all was disease and illness. They intentionally brought it to provide sustenance to slaves during the journey. The slave diet was very simple. What did plantation slaves eat? - All Famous Faqs Not according to biology or history. ", Bailey, back on Sapelo, agrees. The journey from Africa across the Atlantic Ocean was called "the middle passage", and was one of the three legs which comprised the triangular trade among the continents of Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Carolina Gold is one of the heirloom rices receiving a Renaissance. Southern Plantations and Plantation Life - Study.com Tableware, too, attracted slave cash, as did toiletries, watches, and tools.[7]. In fact, rice is one of the ingredients slave traders brought with them on their trans-Atlantic voyages from Africa. Food was often used as a form of control. Think leafy greens and black-eyed. Drawing water, hewing wood, cleaning, cooking, waiting on table, taking out the garbage, shopping, child-tending, and similar domestic occupations were the major functions of slaves in all slave-owning societies. Purchased most often were cloth and sewing suppliescalico, cambric, muslin, shirting, and occasional bits of silkand ready-made clothing and accessories such as shoes, caps, hats, coats, dresses, shawls, shirts, and cravats. That meant the slaves could plant for themselves," says. sesame. Folklore, archaeological evidence, and a rich oral tradition reveal that other cooks, their names now lost, also weaved their talents into the fabric of our culinary heritage, creating and normalizing the mixture of European, African, and Native American cuisines that became the staples of Southern food. Given the difficulty of saving such an enormous sum, why not spend cash more immediately on food and clothing to make daily life less miserable? Collard leaves are wrapped around a savory rice filling with toasted pecans. However, they did have cornbread. My favorite plant-based recipes for corn are Roasted Corn with Garlic Shallot Buttah and Peppery Corn Grits with Tomato Jam. Sugarcane is harvested about 18 months after planting and the plantations usually divided their land for efficiency. The Origins of 'slave food': Callaloo, Dumplings and Saltfish In turn, we still enjoy many of the foods they embraced. Can we bring a species back from the brink? 5 0 obj Such paradoxes troubled more than a few, but practical concerns and a desire for labors just reward pushed them to work extra hours, save cash, and put plans in motion to make freedom theirs. The ingredients and recipes of this early African American cuisine include: rice, okra, sweet potatoes, corn, and greens. Ice Cream and Oppression when food becomes the measure of equality. There are endless plant-based recipes for sweet potatoesincluding Ash Roasted Sweet Potatoes. His great-great-great grandfather Jupiter Gilliard, the man who purchased the farm, was born a slave in 1812. You can even change up the collards for other greens like Swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, and cabbage. The fact that we still eat many of these foods today is a testament to the spirit and strength of these early African Americans. Enslaved men and women began the year with a set amount of cash listed in Towns log book, deductions being made over the course of the year for disciplinary breaches or property loss. (1849.) Enslaved Africans were brought from Africa by European slave traders to the Americas. Enslaved people suffered, yetas bidding in Richmonds auction houses showsthey recognized opportunity as well. Fruit as Food and Medicine Orange County Observer July 7, 1883, U.S. House of Representative Speech of North Carolina on Food Adulteration, H. H. Patterson Account Books from the 1880s, A Cure for Consumption by Jillian Fellows, Catherine Roulhacs Recipe for Infant Food, Foodways During Enslavement and War Bob Paynes Object, Letter from Nathan P. Neal to Aaron and Elizabeth Neal, September 2, 1857, Letter of Charles P. Mallett to Charles B. Mallett, 18 April 1865, Letter from Elisha Mitchell to Maria North, February 11, 1818, October 12, 1863 Letter from Judge William H. Battle to his son, Richard Battle, Food wanted for North Carolina Solders in the trenches around Petersburg Riley Bechter, Circular from UNC President to Parents on Student Alcohol Use, September 30 1840, President James K. Polks Visit to Chapel Hill (1847), Hireling Labor and Slave Labor in Farmers Journal, Raleigh, May 1854, Mrs. Anne Ruffin Camerons Red Cabbage Pickle, Decadence and Opulence in Smart Society Dinners, Fight Taken Up for Oleomargarine, The German Club & a Tradition of Cotillion at UNC, The Carolina Medical Journal: Health in the Age of Decadence. After being established in the Caribbean islands, the plantation system spread during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries to European colonies in the Americas and Asia. What did the slaves eat on the plantation?Slavery and the Making of America . Serve in slices, or mash it up with a little salt. Much more than nutrition, cooking was a way to preserve their culture. He was one of 10 slaves owned by James Burroughs in 1861. What did Jamaican slaves eat? - 2023 The sweet potato, indigenous to North America, is quite similar in texture and appearance (to the point that many modern cooks have trouble distinguishing them), and its believed that slaves simply used them just as they had yams in Africa.[iii]. Its easy to make a plant-based version of Smoky Collard Greens. However, grilled and roasted okra make delicious side dishes. There, hed steal some of boiled Indian corn kernels used to feed the cows and pigs. Black-eyed peas were introduced in the Americas around the middle of the 18th century, and were noted in some of Washingtons writings and other contemporary sources. Your email address will not be published. In the early 17th century, tobacco farming began to spread throughout Virginias Tidewater region. But to be an American is to live in a place where contradictions are the very fibers that bind a complicated heritage divided sharply by race. Root crops figure heavily in modern African cuisine, and yams were likely well-known in the cultures from which American slaves were taken.