Slave Families and Quarters
Slaves were considered property, and because of this, a master could split up slave families if he saw fit. Slave marriages were not legally binding but they did often occur. A slave master would generally allow a marriage between his own slaves to take place because children born into slavery would be owned by the master.
Slaves usually lived in small, crowded cabins with little furniture. The food and clothing they received was the bare minimum. Any extra clothing that a slave might want for his or her family would need to be made on their own spare time, which they rarely had. Domestic slaves lived and worked in the master's home. They had it better relative to the plantation slaves but their lives were still difficult.
Slaves usually lived in small, crowded cabins with little furniture. The food and clothing they received was the bare minimum. Any extra clothing that a slave might want for his or her family would need to be made on their own spare time, which they rarely had. Domestic slaves lived and worked in the master's home. They had it better relative to the plantation slaves but their lives were still difficult.
This video is an excerpt of a play titled "Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs. It is meant to be a relatively realistic representation of a slave girl confronting a master and lashing out at him.