The Treatment of Tobacco Slaves versus Cotton Slaves
When tobacco slavery and cotton slavery both existed simultaneously in the United States, there were stark differences in the treatments of the slaves. Cotton cultivation requires little to no trained labor, while cultivating tobacco is an extremely strenuous and skilled task.
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Above and right, I've put some videos that describe how to harvest cotton and how to harvest tobacco. It is easy to see how in comparison, tobacco requires a vastly greater amount of trained work. This difference in skilled labor in addition to the social backgrounds of the areas were they factors in considering the difference in how the slaves were treated.
In Chesapeake, tobacco planters strongly favored skilled young male slaves, reserving women for the task of producing offspring. In this light, it could be considered worse to be a tobacco slave due to the fact that family members were often separated and sold individually. In contrast, cotton slaves in families were often bought and sold as packages. However, common methods in the cotton plantations made it easier for cotton slaves to be mistreated. For example, individual life expectancies were shorter because slaves that were killed could easily be replaced, due to the diminished need for trained labor. Whereas on tobacco plantations, slaves were kept healthier to live longer because they were the most valuable and well trained after many years of work.
In Chesapeake, tobacco planters strongly favored skilled young male slaves, reserving women for the task of producing offspring. In this light, it could be considered worse to be a tobacco slave due to the fact that family members were often separated and sold individually. In contrast, cotton slaves in families were often bought and sold as packages. However, common methods in the cotton plantations made it easier for cotton slaves to be mistreated. For example, individual life expectancies were shorter because slaves that were killed could easily be replaced, due to the diminished need for trained labor. Whereas on tobacco plantations, slaves were kept healthier to live longer because they were the most valuable and well trained after many years of work.