Frederick Douglas describes a similar use of corn: Our food was coarse cornmeal boiled. 5U67n 3e7o_y$( +_* %YqYV/P)'.M More troubling to slaveholders, enslaved people also bought stolen goods in a thriving interracial network of underground exchange. Towns explained to readers of the Southern Planter that those who had pleased him [went] off with a pocket full of silver, taking care to note, and I always pay them in silver.[9]. Being the power center of the world at the time, they exploited the New World and Africa to industrialize. Serve with plain white rice, perhaps cooked with a little extra water, so that it softens a bit more than usual, and if you have it, dash some pepper sauce over it to liven up the flavor. Researcher Alicia Cromwell says one major challenge is "studying the silences," a phrase coined by Harris, which forces researchers to engage in detective-style deductions to piece together a more complete view of history in the absence of primary documents like diaries and letters written by slaves. Choosing to buy control of ones own body affirmed a slaves status as chattel, even as that commodity transaction broke the chains of servitude completely. Contrary to the overwhelming image of the grand Southern plantation worked by hundreds of slaves, most agricultural units in the South up until about two decades before the Civil War were small . 84. eBook. They created favorites like gumbo, an adaptation of a traditional West . The slaves would have to wake up at 4 o'clock and work in the fields until sunset. It was put into a large wooden tray or trough, and set down upon the ground. Availalbe for use through Wiki Commons. This week I was reviewing Muster, Payrolls and List of Effectives for Capt Gross Scruggs company of the Fifth Virginia. Tableware, too, attracted slave cash, as did toiletries, watches, and tools.[7]. The actual origins of Callaloo are widely contested. [4], As the plantation economy expanded, the slave trade grew to meet the growing demand for labor. The plantation owners then turned to enslaved Africans for labor. Required fields are marked *. The total number of slave owners was 385,000 (including, in Louisiana, some free African Americans), amounting to approximately 3.8% of the Southern and Border states population. The slaves had to work for long hours under the scorching heat daily. Edit View history The health of slaves on American plantations was a matter of concern to both slaves and their owners. *Editor's Note, August 15, 2018: A previous version of this article wrongly stated that Chef Hercules was our nations first White House chef, when, in fact, he served as George Washington's chef at Mount Vernon and at the President's House in Philadelphia, before construction of the White House was complete. This red pea, which originated in Africa and is the original ingredient in the region's quintessential rice-and-beans dish Hoppin' John, is just one of the many heritage crops from the African continent receiving new attention from farmers, chefs, scientists, and food historians. Certainly, enslaved people found timepieces desirable because they were useful, but also because they were markers of wealth and status. 1, 115; Ibid., 12, pt. But by the late 17th century, plantation homes throughout Virginia had turned to enslaved laborers, captured from central and western Africa, to grow crops, build structures and generally remain at the beck and call of white families. Another ingredient that came from Africa was okra. They lived in the kitchen, sleeping upstairs above the hearth during the winters, and outside come summertime. On plantations, African American slaves did the same thing. Sugarcane is harvested about 18 months after planting and the plantations usually divided their land for efficiency. Bacon grease or other pork fat would have been relatively easy to come by, and if chicken stock werent available on a given day, this recipe would still work, with the addition of some extra salt. This is an example of the many ways in which word of mouth and early forms of media were used to spread false information to convince Americans to sit back and allow the continuation of slavery. Learn how your comment data is processed. Enslaved people did not restrict their spending to established merchants. Cool enough to handle, and then peel the skins off and discard. ". Others hoped that property ownership might induce enslaved people to work harderfor themselves and, by extension, their masters. (n.d.). Culinary historian and author Jessica Harris says food traditions hold symbols and meaning that serve as a historical roadmap. Office of Secretary of State. The primary challenge, Harris says, is reconstructing history when one group of peoplein this case, white slave ownersdid their best to subjugate Africans to the point where they were nearly left out entirely. Sources are exceptionally scarce and contemporary recipes are nonexistent, but we can reconstruct some idea of what the table in the slaves quarters might have offered to maintain these unfortunate souls in their labors. It is often smoked or roasted at Fall Pumpkin festivals. The practice was abolished in most places during the 19th century. Most often foods such as okra, rice and kidney and lima beans accompanied them. Despite the newspapers warnings, white Southerners could not have been surprised to see enslaved buyers browsing goods for sale. sesame. watermelon. In many areas, however, it was customary for slaves to work Saturday afternoons and Sundays on their own time, devoting daylight hours to cash-earning activities similar to that of their lowcountry brethren. Enslaved people did not restrict their spending to established merchants. A slave who owned chickens or pigs would not run away, some argued. David Shields, a professor at the University of South Carolina in Columbia and an expert in early American literature and food revivals, points to Emeline Jones as an example. Serve immediately, with pepper sauce if desired. I also love adding greens to stews like my West African Peanut Butter Curry Stew. In urban and rural areas alike, storekeepers petitioned local legislatures to expand trade hours to promote slave shopping, especially during the Christmas season. 4 cups (900 ml) black-eyed peas. Hercules was taught by the well-known New York tavern keeper and culinary giant Samuel Frances, who mentored him in Philadelphia; Hemings traveled with Jefferson to Paris, where he learned French-style cooking. Given the difficulty of saving such an enormous sum, why not spend cash more immediately on food and clothing to make daily life less miserable? Black cooks created the feasts that gave the South its reputation for hospitality. Georgia Division of Archives and History. Honor the Boycott Flyer Protesting Dining Halls, A Little Bit of China in Chapel Hill Daily Tar Heel Article, February 9, 1979, Lambda, 1977: Tea Dance and Carolina Gay Association, On-Campus Kitchens of as a Social Center of UNC Housing. Ultimate Plant-Based Thanksgiving Dinner Holiday Recipes, 7 New Years Food Traditions from Around the World that you Can Celebrate with a Healthy, Plant-Based Diet, Peppery Southern Grits with Sweet Heat Tomato Jam and Caramelized Chard, Southern Collard Dolmades with Smoky Sweet Potato Puree. This is nowhere more apparent than in slaves purchase of that most precious and intangible commodity, freedom. This cornbread was crumbled into the bottom of the bowl to soak up the last bits of savory flavor. The slaves then had to adapt their African rice dishes to fit the limited ingredients they had in America. Number of slaves in the Lower South: 2,312,352 (47% of total population) 4,919 million. Slave cottage near Bardstown, Kentucky. cook them over fire or wrap in leaves and ash-roast. Of course, nobody at that time had any sense of vitamins or trace minerals, but some cookbooks of the period do have lengthy discourses on the importance of balance of different sorts in ones diet. They roasted meats, made jellies, cooked puddings, and crafted desserts, preparing several meals a day for the white family. I know versions of his diary exist elsewhere, but the war time entries can be found, Thank you for sharing that, Adam. Throughout history domestic service was probably the major slave occupation. The practice was abolished in most places during the 19th century. However, the historical roots of both dishes have so much to teach us about the slave experience that its worth including them together here. Once in the Americas, slaves then planted the rice for their own consumption. stream "If we want to understand current relationships, then we need to go back to these very uncomfortable pasts and explore how Africans actually contributed to American culture. During the 19th century, there were moments of widespread fear that these cooks would poison them, and we know from court records and other documents that on at least a few occasions enslaved cooks did slip poisons like hemlock into their masters food. Your email address will not be published. His great-great-great grandfather Jupiter Gilliard, the man who purchased the farm, was born a slave in 1812. Growing up on Sapelo Island, Georgia, Cornelia Walker Bailey never thought of red peas as anything special. Manufactured goods, of higher value, were then sold both to Africa and the New World. The indigo crop was grown for making blue indigo dye in the pre-industrial age. Still others performed extra labor for their mastersoften called overworkor for other white people in the community, earning precious cash or credit for purchases of their choosing. theamericanhistorian@oah.org, 2023 Organization of American Historians, Masters, Slaves, and Exchange: Power's Purchase in the Old South. Heres why each season begins twice. They were shipped from ports in West Africa to European colonies in the Americas. The master class scraped to make ends meet. The fact that we still eat many of these foods today is a testament to the spirit and strength of these early African Americans. Food not only brings us together in our current communities. "I'm trying to teach my students, black and white, a different kind of history about slavery," says Cromwell, who is still researching the subject at the University of Georgia. All de possums and rabbits and fish and such wer jus dat much more"(5) Clothing for slave children was in general very basic and generally consisted of a smock like garment worn by both boys and girls. Food supplies The plantation owners provided their enslaved Africans with weekly rations of salt herrings or mackerel, sweet potatoes, and maize, and sometimes salted West Indian turtle.The enslaved Africans supplemented their diet with other kinds of wild food. It also ties us to the past. There are endless plant-based recipes for sweet potatoesincluding Ash Roasted Sweet Potatoes. Old cells hang around as we age, doing damage to the body. "They could have been gone 300 years ago, but to say my great-great-great-grandparents used to use this and cook this and plant this, that gives you a good feeling.". Folklore, archaeological evidence, and a rich oral tradition reveal that other cooks, their names now lost, also weaved their talents into the fabric of our culinary heritage, creating and normalizing the mixture of European, African, and Native American cuisines that became the staples of Southern food. Organization of American Historians But from its most famous to its anonymous practitioners, the story of Southern cuisine is inseparable from the story of American racism. Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. Planters embraced the use of slaves mainly because indentured labor became expensive. "Okra is connected indelibly with the American South," says Harris. They were also found in Africa and Asia were also based on slavery. 6 cups (1.25 liter) water favorite foods. What did the slaves eat on the plantations? The children were then called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they would come and devour the mush; some with oyster-shells, others with pieces of shingle, some with naked hands, and none with spoons.. Choice implied agency and that agency undermined masters rule. Carolina Gold is one of the heirloom rices receiving a Renaissance. Please be respectful of copyright. These cooks knew their craft. Buying goods in the Old Southa piece of peppermint candy, a silk cravat, a stolen watch, ones own bodyrevealed the fragile politics at the heart of master-slave relation. Records from six antebellum stores across Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia indicate that enslaved consumers spent hard-earned cash on a wide variety of goods. I delivered the talk to an audience of 30 at the Maier Museum of Art in Lynchburg, Virginia. While it might be fun to think about boiled sweet potatoes and cornbread, we must also remember the dark truth of slavery. The juice from the crushing of the cane was then boiled or clarified until it crystallized into sugar. [3]. [i] Rutledge, Sarah. By the Civil Wars last weary winter, Confederate Richmond, had become accustomed to the pounding of artillery echoing across nearby fields. 90. These large homes marked a moment of transition, when English cultural norms took hold on the Virginia landscape. Take, for example, Georgia planter James Towns, whose end-of-year celebrations always included a pay day for good behavior. The journey from Africa across the Atlantic Ocean was called "the middle passage", and was one of the three legs which comprised the triangular trade among the continents of Europe, the Americas, and Africa. While newly free African Americans fled the plantations to find work as housekeepers, butlers, cooks, drivers, Pullman porters and waitersthe only jobs they could getAunt Jemima and Rastus smiled while serving white folks, enhancing the myth that black cooks had always been cheerful and satisfied, during slavery and with their current situation. In Bailey's family, the tiny red legume, with its thin, firm shell; creamy interior; and sweet, buttery flavor was just another staple she and her family planted, harvested, and cooked. I did find references to collard greens and cabbage in the course of my research, yes. "Black people have been in the room, but for so long they were so good at being invisible" that they were easy to leave out of the historical record, Harris says. That meant the slaves could plant for themselves," says Bailey, who has recruited other local farmers to plant the crop this spring. For the women who wrote and preserved the receipt books, these recipes, the products of African foodways, were something worthy of remembering, re-creating, and establishing as Americana. A National Geographic team has made the first ascent of the remote Mount Michael, looking for a lava lake in the volcanos crater. I top them with broccoli and red chili paste, Roasted Corn with Garlic Shallot Buttah, able to survive by hunting, fishing, and gardening. They also had to feed every free person who passed through the plantation. A mans world? In Brazil, plantations were called casas grandes and suffered from similar issues. Peddlers and wagoners roved from farm to plantation, selling trinkets, candies, cakes, and often alcohol. In the American South, okra is probably most well-known as the ingredient found in gumbo. What good could it possibly do them? More importantly, he must have thought, What good does a slave with money do me? Plenty, he and others like him imagined. Post-emancipation America still relied heavily on the skills and labor of newly freed African Americans. Enslaved cooks brought this cuisine its unique flavors, adding ingredients such as hot peppers, peanuts, okra, and greens. 2. Carolina Housewife. X11ej9G}R)\.}F5aj??*? Throughout the Western Hemisphere, the plantation served as an institution in itself, characterized by social and political inequality, racial conflict, and domination by the planter class. A customer at Holland Bottom Farms in Cabot, Arkansas, reaches for tomatoes and okra. Plantation slavery was not exclusive to the Americas. Slavery. One of Earth's loneliest volcanoes holds an extraordinary secret. Your email address will not be published. 25 Slaves often gardens grew sweet potatoes in their gardens, utilizing skills that African Americans passed down from generation to generation. Honor that past with gratitude and unity. The 'extreme cruelty' around the global trade in frog legs, What does cancer smell like? The struggle to get by in a regime of growing instability engendered webs of unregulated exchange and distribution. All rights reserved. For decades she has used an image of okra on her business cards as a symbol of her family's African roots and her own connection to the continent's cuisine. Susan McIntosh remembered that, in contrast to the coarse and rough shoes provided by her masters, she and her companions bought calico, muslin and good shoes, pants, coats and other nice things for their Sunday clothes.[4] In his 1859 autobiography, escaped slave Charles Ball described this process in more detail, elaborating spending priorities. Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Alicia Cromwell is a doctoral student at the University of South Carolina. 6 cups (1 1/4 liter) chicken stock Some plantations also went a step further and distilled the molasses, the liquid left after the sugar is boiled or clarified, to make rum. In fact, okra is what helps thicken gumbo. Looking forward to trying out all the recipes. Shopping, then, entailed more than the acquisition of desired goods. But to openly wear or use purloined goods was to risk detection and punishment. Yet even the most thriftless and impoverished must have cherished the thought of that most conspicuous and politically subversive form of consumption. 5 0 obj As described by Carol Graham, a former slave from Alabama: Greens was cooked in a big black washpot jus like yo boils clothes in now.. And, they still play a role in our modern diet. They had it in stews and stuffvery, very similar to what we eat here," she says. A slave plantation was an agricultural farm that used enslaved people for labour. Their comfort is promoted, he reasoned, and it removes the temptation to visit dram shops. Most importantly, it affords the master an excellent opportunity of judging the thrift of each negro.[10] Here was a powerful opportunity for masters not only to monitor slave spending but to criticize it, too. The American Historian What did slaves eat on plantations? Comparing and contrasting culinary practices as told through personal letters. Private moments were rare, as was rest. These remnants, scant though they are, make it clear that enslaved cooks were central players in the birth of our nations cultural heritage. [5], Western Europe was the final destination for the plantation produce. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The slaves in America didnt have fufu or injera. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2009. They adapted these to the harsh living conditions on plantations. By some estimates, it is said that some ten million Africans were brought to the Americas. The plantation system peaked in the first half of the 18th century, but later on, during the middle of 19th century, there was a significant increase in demand for cotton from European countries, which means there was a need for expanding the plantation in the southern parts of United States. The remainder of the letter consists of detailed explanations of medical care and resources made available to Gibbs slaves. Cookie Policy ~:J3c5T~84.6kcA9jrapbZWVP~t,KERdK2Zp28i6B Vegetable patches or gardens, if permitted by the owner, supplied fresh produce to add to the rations. For the slave laborer, the routine started all over again. Over 400 years, nearly 13 million Africans were kidnapped and imprisoned on European slave ships bound for the Americas. Bats and agaves make tequila possibleand theyre both at risk, This empress was the most dangerous woman in Rome. Rice and Beans. So why cant we, as Americans today, look at this history for what it was? But now, the Examiner and the Whig warned, auctioneers patter announced something else entirely, another symptom of the breaking down of the barriers that, until this war, kept the negro in his proper sphere. Enslaved men and women had taken to gathering at the auctions, using grossly improper language in the presence of, and even to, white women. Worse, ladies and gentlemen at auctions [were] forced to bid in competition with bondpeople, men and women who audaciously monopolize[d] the most eligible positions and claim[ed] the nod of the auctioneer. As white Richmonders sold off possessions to make ends meet in hard-pressed times, the citys slaves were going shopping. [3] George P. Rawick, ed., The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography, 41 vols. Red peas are a tangible connection to her own African heritage, Bailey says, and one reason why she has started to grow the crop commercially. Weekly food rations usually corn meal, lard, some meat, molasses, peas, greens, and flour were distributed every Saturday. Photo by Henry P. Moore. Watches, in other words, were meant to be displayed. City newspapers noted the Army of the Potomacs unrelenting pressure on nearby Petersburg, but the sieges long familiarity muted the panic that dull roar might have incited only three years before. Enslaved Africans were brought from Africa by European slave traders to the Americas. 1 tsp (5 ml) salt, Add, stirring constantly: Why wetlands are so critical for life on Earth, Rest in compost? They often ate the entrails and appendages of farm animals, including pig's feet, cow's tongue, liver and oxtail. The South continues to embrace corn in its many forms. Growing numbers of researchers, many of them African-American, are bringing to light the uncredited ways slaves and their descendants have shaped how Americans eat. While it is a shameful chapter in our national past, the fact of slavery during the Revolutionary Era is inescapable, and part of understanding how the people of this nascent country ate is exploring how the slaves were fed. They intentionally brought it to provide sustenance to slaves during the journey. Rather than ham hock, use the vegan secret weapon of smoked paprika. Root crops figure heavily in modern African cuisine, and yams were likely well-known in the cultures from which American slaves were taken. Cooked low and slow, these greens are often flavored with a small piece of ham or bacon. For most, these questions were no more than abstractions, as few enslaved people managed to purchase themselves. For Trinidadians, Callaloo is one part of their national dish: Crab and Callaloo- a dish which was created by the African slaves sometime around 1530 when the island was under Spanish occupation. As Frederick Douglas recounts I have often been so pinched with hunger, that I have fought with the dog. New York, New York: Berg, 2012. Your Privacy Rights These corn mushes and breads became the Soul Food staples of grits and cornbread. [1] Rawick, American Slave, 13, pt. Most slave purchasing reflected this tension between necessity, luxury, and potential danger. Worse, they did not know the value of a dollar, allowing vendors to take advantage of their lack of consumer savvy. Yet, many of the plant-based foods in our current diet are reflections of our nations history. Robert Allston. NNDB. These staples of our modern diets are part of our culture now because slaves smuggled them and cultivated them, sometimes in secret. The first plantations occurred in the Caribbean islands, particularly, in the West Indies on the island of Hispaniola, where it was initiated by the Spaniards in the early 16th century. Okra is one of those under-appreciated vegetables that I love. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The answers to these questions depend on where a person was enslaved and what kind of work she or he performed. Before long, plantations were founded by colonists, such as Shirley Plantation, constructed circa 1613; Berkeley Hundred, and Flowerdew Hundred, whose 1,000 acres extended along the James River. licorice. Advertising Notice Agricultural journals and plantation records burst with strategies and advice. Some indentured servants were also leaving to . Sugar has a long history as a plantation crop. Slaves in a lot of cases were given some land to grow their own vegetables on also also soon keep few chickens and pigs. During the slave trade, they brought with them their appreciation for okra, including it in stews that are signature to Soul food. In the American South, okra is probably most well-known as the ingredient found in gumbo. Each of these plant-based foods impacted the history of our eating traditions. In 1665, there were fewer than 500 Africans in Virginia but by 1750, 85 percent of the 235,000 slaves lived in the Southern colonies, Virginia included. \ .2LE_mm5!aq e2z(~i+Lj4 +a,bN^e8w)q~A0*,A|EncL&L3upPm4Y]}R"XNeFWeoN;N&hS3LW0Km]-+SNjzq"-b5m:-`v]zf6P5'm0t"~VK,Le-}9r"v [ii] Wilke, Richard, and Livia Barbosa. While gumbo, the flagship dish of New Orleans, is usually thickened with okra, the technique is actually an adaptation of soupikandia, a Senegalese soupy stew slave cooks prepared in plantation kitchens for both themselves and their owners. Joyner Rare E444.B58, Special Collections Department, J.Y. He came to the North Carolina conference with a yellowed letter, a rare piece of history addressed from his great-grandmother to his grandmother, detailing how and where to plant corn, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, and watermelon. One formerly-enslaved woman remembered that she and her family aint had nothin but de coarsest food an clothes. Educator and former slave Booker T. Washington commented on clothing in particular, recalling shirts that were stiff and coarse . Do let me know what you think of the recipes that you try. Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Something I said, or perhaps everything I said, upset her. For masters and bondpeople alike, the internal economy both challenged the institution of slavery and shored it up. "I had quite a few okra dishes when I went to West Africa. The system was largely run by European merchants[6]. Indigofera was a major crop cultivated during the 18th century, in Venezuela, Guatemalaand Haiti until the slave rebellion against France that left them embargoed by Europe and India in the 19th and 20th centuries. [2] Historians and anthropologists across the Caribbean and the United States have explored the mechanics and meaning of the slaves internal economy. . Her essay derives from that book and her current book project Bonds Burst Asunder: The Revolutionary Politics of Getting By in Civil War and Emancipation, 18601867. On days when that wasnt available, hed head to the animal shed. As Booker T. Washington recounts in his Slave Diet Bulletin, a common breakfast was cornbread and pork. Storing the potatoes and other root vegetables over the winter may have been a subtle act of rebellion. Still others imagined that allowing slaves the ability to spend money as they chose might make up for restrictions in other parts of their lives. In December 1864, other sounds seemed equally troubling. What do slaves want with money? he asked rhetorically. Just found your series! What enslaved men and women did with that cash or creditand what it meantchallenged the institution of slavery. Much more than nutrition, cooking was a way to preserve their culture. Overcooking will often result in a slimy texture. Some even went out of their way to place money in enslaved peoples hands. Internal economy focused political struggle, and consumption was deeply woven into the tragic and tangled fabric of the master-slave relation. Offerings such as pepper pot, okra stew, gumbo, and jambalaya became staples on American dining tables. Beef and hawgs and bacon and syrup and sugar and flour was plenty.