ve up some money for manumission. The slave/master ratio in the city was 3-4 slaves pr. master, while it was 30-40 slaves pr. master in the rural areas. It goes without saying that the urban slaves had a much closer relationship to the master than did the rural slaves. As earlier mentioned the rural slaves had much less freedom than the city slaves. They didn’t have the freedom to go anywhere, because there was simply nowhere to go, thus they were stuck on the plantation. There was also a difference between the domestic and the field slaves. The domestic slaves were physical better off, with bigger houses and more comfortable environments, but they had much less privacy than the field slaves, because their masters always watched them. The field slaves were working harder, but at least they had a little bit more space than the domestic slaves. The field slaves were watched by other slaves, so once in a while they snuck away for a little break.Some slaves, especially the urban slaves, had the opportunity to achieve manumission. This meant that if they had put aside enough money, behaved good, and their master allowed it, they could purchase their own freedom. There were different degrees of freedom; sometimes they remained under the master’s direct control, other times they had freedom of movement. They could also be freed by baptism. To achieve manumission the slaves had to work really hard to earn enough money. They also had to obey their master over a long period of time, and there could be no trouble with them.The African slaves had been torn away from their cultural roots, and now they had to regrow them in their new environment. The African slaves slowly created a new culture in which African and European elements formed a cultural continuum. Religion, dance, and music played a central role in this new culture. They had religious feast days, where all these things were combined. The Africans also influenced this new cult...
