Cultivation and Culture: Labor and the Shaping of Slave Life in the Americas (Carter G. Woodson Institute Series: Black Studies at Work in the World)

So central was labor in the lives of African-American slaves that it has often been taken for granted, with little attention given to the type of work that slaves did and the circumstances surrounding it. Cultivation and Culture brings together leading scholars of slavery- historians, anthropologists, and sociologists- to explore when, where, and how slaves labored in growing the New World's great staples and how this work shaped the institution of slavery and the lives of African-American slaves. The authors focus on the interrelationships between the demands of particular crops, the organization of labor, the nature of the labor force, and the character of agricultural technology. They show the full complexity of the institution of chattel bondage in the New World and suggest why and how slavery varied from place to place and time to time. Frontmatter ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (page vii) INTRODUCTION: Ira Berlin and Philip D. Morgan, Labor and the Shaping of Slave Life in the Americas (page 1) PART ONE: THE LABOR FORCE 1. Richard S. Dunn, Sugar Production and Slave Women in Jamaica (page 49) 2. David P. Geggus, Sugar and Coffee Cultivation in Saint Domingue and the Shaping of the Slave Labor Force (page 73) PART TWO: THE ECONOMY 3. David Barry Gaspar, Sugar Cultivation and Slave Life in Antigua before 1800 (page 101) 4. Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Coffee Planters and Coffee Slaves in the Antilles: The Impact of a Secondary Crop (page 124) 5. Joseph P. Reidy, Obligation and Right: Patterns of Labor, Subsistence, and Exchange in the Cotton Belt of Georgia, 1790-1860 (page 138) 6. Steven F. Miller, Plantation Labor Organization and Slave Life on the Cotton Frontier: The Alabama-Mississippi Black Belt, 1815-1840 (page 155) 7. Lorena S. Walsh, Slave Life, Slave Society, and Tobacco Production in the Tidewater Chesapeake, 1620-1820 (page 170) PART THREE: THE SLAVES' ECONOMY 8. Woodville K. Marshall, Provision Ground and Plantation Labor in Four Windward Islands: Competition for Resources during Slavery (page 203) 9. Dale Tomich, Une Petite Guinée: Provision Ground and Plantation in Martinique, 1830-1848 (page 221) 10. John Campbell, As "A Kind of Freeman"?: Slaves' Market-Related Activities in the South Carolina Up Country, 1800-1860 (page 243) 11. Roderick A. McDonald, Independent Economic Production by Slaves on Antebellum Louisiana Sugar Plantations (page 275) NOTES (page 303) CONTRIBUTORS (page 379) INDEX (page 381) So Central Was Labour In The Lives Of African-american Slaves That It Has Often Been Taken For Granted, With Little Attention Given To The Type Of Work That Slaves Did And The Circumstances Surrounding It. Cultivation And Culture Brings Together Essays By Leading Scholars Of Slavery - Historians, Anthropologists And Sociologists - To Explore When, Where And How Slaves Laboured In Growing The New World's Great Staples And How This Work Shaped The Institution Of Slavery And The Lives Of African-american Slaves. Selected from a conference on comparative slavery, these essays explore when, where and how slaves laboured in growing the New World's staples and how this work shaped the institution of slavery and the lives of African-American slaves.