Oh, hello do you want to want to learn about my tiring, hard and hurtful life as a field slave? Yes? Okay! Oh, I should probably mention that my name is Jessica ,or Jessie, as most people call me.

cabins are called Slave Quarters and are all on a plantation. Most of these plantations are in the Southern Colonies, such as Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

Other slaves also lived in the Slave Quarters that I live in and sometimes even family members. I am never around any of the house slaves, though; they work with the master in his house. I see the master a lot, when he comes out to give us his orders. You probably want to know what some of those orders are, don't you? Okay.

Well I worked from sunrise to sunset, or from my point of view, from when the big yellow thing went up until the big yellow thing came down. Men mostly pick cotton and tobacco during that time while my best friend Alexandrea and I tend to the oxen with all of the other women slaves. The women have some hard work at home though, because when all of the men come home they have wounds all over their hands from the thorns in the cotton and we have to take care of them. Sometimes the women are home alone because the men are gone out to work in the mines with the master, and are gone for many days at a time.

Alexandrea, the other slaves and I are treated horribly! We are whipped when we barely mess up or if we do not do all of the work that was on our list from the master that was...oh... about...half of a mile long or so.

Alexandrea and I were sold in an auction together about fifteen years ago. When we got to the plantation we were forced to work with no pay at all. We have worn old rags since the first day on the plantation and only have one pair of them. We barely have any food and what we do have is old junk like old corn and animal fat, if we are lucky. We are treated so badly that it was almost like we were old machinery or farm animals or something. We are property, or what the master calls "chattel," which is another word for property as you might have already guessed.

One time my friend's husband was branded because he hit a white man, he could have even been killed! No slave is allowed to sue, carry a weapon or get married. We are only allowed to get married under certain circumstances. When we do get married we have to jump over a broom and we are husband and wife.

House slaves have more trust than we do so they are treated better than we are. As you can see slaves are treated very unequally in this time. You should be glad that you are not a slave and never will be one.

I hope that you enjoyed hearing about my life as a field slave. I hope to see you again soon! Bye!

By Shelby Cook

4^th grade

Parkview Elementary