LIFE IN ANTEBELLUM AMERICA 1807 1861
SLAVERY IN AMERICA COTTON SLAVE TRADE AND THE SOUTHERN RESPONSE
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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making sure slaves received humane treatment
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teaching slaves to read and write
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supervising slaves on large plantations
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helping slaves escape to freedom
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Detailed explanation-1: -On a plantation where enslaved people were forced to work, it was the overseer’s job to make sure they were productive, ensuring that the plantation owner made as much money as possible. Overseers could, and often did, brutally punish enslaved workers.
Detailed explanation-2: -An overseer’s job was to ensure that the slaves were doing as much work as they should be and that everything was being done to improve the crop yield. Overseers were generally hired seasonally and a planter would generally try and find a new one for the next season.
Detailed explanation-3: -Besides planting and harvesting, there were numerous other types of labor required on plantations and farms. Enslaved people had to clear new land, dig ditches, cut and haul wood, slaughter livestock, and make repairs to buildings and tools.
Detailed explanation-4: -4. On large plantations, the person who directed the daily work of the slaves was the overseer, usually a white man but occasionally an enslaved black man-a “driver"-promoted to the position by his master.