What was life like for slaves on the plantations?
You should read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and/or “Roots.” For the most part, slaves were treated humanely, and their lives were probably not much different from the lives of the poor whites who lived in surrounding communities. They had to work hard six days a week, had few clothes, small houses, and simple diets based on corn and other vegetables. That’s why some people might suggest that “it wasn’t all that bad.” However, we have to go beyond this to see the true horrors of slavery. Most slaves were captured in war. They may have been injured or not, but in any event loved ones were probably killed. Then they had to suffer the pain of separation from home and family, not to mention the humiliation of sale. The middle passage (across the Atlantic) was terrible. Once in America, the slaves again went through the humiliation of display and slavery. They were forced to give up their language, religion, and culture. Things were probably better for the second generation, but slaves never enjoyed
