I wake up early in the morning to go to my morning meal with the rest of the people in my slave house. We all head into the main house where the women have been preparing a meal for us. We stand in a line that moves rather slowly, but we all receive our meal which does not amount to much. Before we eat the master appears to say a prayer that he leads and then we follow. After that we eat our meal and then we head out into the fields to do our work.
We are formed into groups each with a specific thing that we are to do. I am sent with many others to work up the land, so that more of the crop can be planted and grown for harvest. I work for hours on hours, and even the slightest slowing of the work earns us a lash with the whip. The man next to me began to slow down and the overseer noticed as he cracked the whip on his bare back. This is a daily scene for me, but I have to ignore it and keep working otherwise I will also have to suffer the same fate. After a long while we are sent back in for another meal in the main house.
After the usual prayer led by our master we eat a small meal and then proceed back out to the fields to work for another long while. By the time we get back to where we were the sun is now in the sky and I can feel the heat much more than what I did before. I continue to work up the ground and feel the ever increasing heat of the sun bare down on my back. I hear that the master is now inspecting the work of all the groups that are now out in the fields. I start to pick up the pace of my work as the master approaches our area. The master inspects and shares a few words with the overseer. After that he rides away on his horse and when he is out of sight I slacken my pace just a little trying not to let the overseer notice, but he must have because not long after that I felt the whip crack across my back. Searing pain coursed through my back as my hands gripped the handle of my hoe even tighter. I clenched my teeth so as not to let out any sounds of pain.
By the time that we were to eat again the sun was already very high in the sky and beating down mercilessly. I walked back grabbed my food and then sat down as always the master led us in a prayer as we settled down to a small meal. After which we were then brought back out into the fields. Once out in the fields the heat had gone up and we continued to work. After a while there was a sudden commotion among the overseers and everyone was told to stop working. We were told that someone had taken some food from the kitchen. A man from my group stepped forward and confessed to what happened. They took him away and had us stay to continue the work. After several hours the man that they took away returned and I could see him wince in pain as he bent down to pick up his tool.
The heat is now very intense as I feel countless beads of sweat litter my forehead and start to trickle down my face. A man close to me takes time to wipe his face but his lack of work is met with the whip after which he goes immediately back to working up the soil. I continue with my work but the sun is really beating down on me and I can almost feel myself start to slacken the pace of my work, so I pick up my pace slightly. Once again there is word that the master will be coming down our way to inspect the work that we are doing. As everyone hears this they all start to put more effort into their work. We work for a long time as the sun starts to set and we are told that we are done for the day. We go back to our slave house and I go over to the man that had taken food from the kitchen to see how he was doing.
He told me that after he confessed to doing it they brought him back to the mansion where he was stripped and his hands were tied to a post and he was whipped severely for it. He said that they gave him twenty some lashes across the back and after they were done they told him to dress himself so that he could be taken back out to the field. He turned around and there were red stains from the blood on the back of his shirt that he had. At this time I thought of my wounds that I had received during the day from the times that I was lashed with the whip. I could feel my back ache from the whip lashes that I had endured during the day. I do not say anything about it though.
It is not long before many of the men are asleep so that they can have some rest for the day tomorrow. I stay up for a little bit but knowing what will come tomorrow will require me to get some sleep. I head over to my bunk which is surrounded by other men. I try to lay down in a way so that I will be well rested for the day tomorrow. As I lay down I can feel my back begin to ache with pain but it is something that I will have to ignore if I wish to get some sleep. The morning will come soon and we will all be sent out into the fields to do another day of hard working for our master.
Morning comes and I head out to eat the morning meal with the rest of the people from my slave house. This time I am to head out into the field to pick the cocoa from the plants. I head out to the field and begin to do my work. The overseer for this part of the plantation is rather harsh. The slightest sign of slowing down will earn someone several lashes with the whip. Once when my pace seemed to slacken I was lashed with the whip three times on the back to get me to pick up my pace. Today was a very harsh day in the fields as I was whipped many times to get me to work harder. I will head straight to bed once I am finished and return into my slave house. My back is now even more scarred and I feel more pain as I try to lay down to rest and wait for another day out in the field on my master’s plantation.
Based off the picture at the top from nypl.org
Post from: timothyvorwald@gmail.com
Tim Vorwald
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