Java Plantation Life

By 1840, eighty-four African American slaves lived on the Java Plantation, a large number for the area, and almost half were children. On a typical day they rose before dawn, prepared and ate breakfast, fed the livestock, and were in the fields by sunrise. There they might hoe, weed, clear new land, pick insects from the tobacco, or harvest the crop. Mothers took their babies into the fields with them, while young children were often left to care for themselves, and by age ten they were put to work. Sunset ended field labor, but other chores still had to be done before any free time could be spent with family. Music and dance helped form a distinct slave culture while maintaining ties to African heritage. Using native materials, African American slaves made banjos and drums similar to those they had played in Africa, and they also played homemade guitars, flutes, whistles, and horns.

Maryland · United States