to see, and when the moon is full, they often labor till the middle of the night." Men, women, and children worked in the fields. The women cut down trees, dug ditches and plowed. The old and the ailing worked, oftentimes in the yards, feeding poultry, cleaning up, mending clothes and caring for the infants and the sick. At the end of the workday the slaves still had chores to do, from feeding the mules and swines, cutting wood, and so forth (Johnson, 124-130).Fear, work, the whip, hard words, and the fields was the life for most slaves, day in and day out, season after season, with a half-day on Saturday perhaps and whole day off on Sunday. Although the slaves were under the surveillance of the whites in order to prevent conspiracies and revolts, they were able to engage in a form of worship different from that of the whites. The field hands were especially attracted by the Methodist and Baptist missionaries who, in their revival meetings, preached a simple doctrine of salvation through conversion in which a highly emotional experience was of primary importance. The spirituals, or religious folk songs, grew out of these relatively independent religious meetings. The marriage between slaves was not legally recognized but was encouraged by the master. It was thought that a married couple with children would be less likely to attempt escape. The marriage ceremony was instructed by the wisest and most respected slave on the plantation, and included the ritual of jumping the broomstick. Males and females were expected to remain faithful after the marriage. The marriages lasted a long time, some thirty years or more.The life on the plantation was the only life known to a slave. Few slaves ever had the opportunity to leave the plantation so it was the only world they knew. One can think of a plantation as an isolated island, with occasional contact from the outside world. It was only through making contact with the outside worl...
