I’m apperently unclear on the concept of 1800s slaves. I thought they recieved zero pay, and did what they were told.
Also, I never quite understood how that worked anyways. These slaves were picked from African nations, largely which did not speak english. I was taught they were intentionally kept illiterate to hinder escape attempts, as they wouldn’t be able to read local street signs or maps.
But if that’s true, and you said “Slave, pick up these logs, and move them over there!” but they don’t speak english, wouldn’t the result be a blank look on their face as you just spoke jibberish from their perspective?
And now you say the slaves are being paid, admittingly low wages, but still paid. Which goes against the core concept of what I thought slavery was back then.
The slaveholders were paid for their work, they didn’t receive the money themselves.
If you were to be taken prisoner today by a bunch of people who only spoke an unknown language to you, it would take a while, but you would learn it eventually. In normal circumstances, it should take an adult 2-4 years of immersion to develop fluency in the goal language. These would not be ideal circumstances, so it’s probably closer to 3-6 years. If there were a 14 year old in your group, it would go much faster. With a six year old, it’s even faster.
The red dirt soil of West Africa and the East Coast of the US are remarkably similar. People in West Africa knew how to grow crops in that soil, so they were the ones slavers looked for. Slaves came over with skills.
Hire slaves for half the wage?
I’m apperently unclear on the concept of 1800s slaves. I thought they recieved zero pay, and did what they were told.
Also, I never quite understood how that worked anyways. These slaves were picked from African nations, largely which did not speak english. I was taught they were intentionally kept illiterate to hinder escape attempts, as they wouldn’t be able to read local street signs or maps.
But if that’s true, and you said “Slave, pick up these logs, and move them over there!” but they don’t speak english, wouldn’t the result be a blank look on their face as you just spoke jibberish from their perspective?
And now you say the slaves are being paid, admittingly low wages, but still paid. Which goes against the core concept of what I thought slavery was back then.
The slaveholders were paid for their work, they didn’t receive the money themselves.
If you were to be taken prisoner today by a bunch of people who only spoke an unknown language to you, it would take a while, but you would learn it eventually. In normal circumstances, it should take an adult 2-4 years of immersion to develop fluency in the goal language. These would not be ideal circumstances, so it’s probably closer to 3-6 years. If there were a 14 year old in your group, it would go much faster. With a six year old, it’s even faster.
Thanks for replying to LostMyMind.
I’ll add to what idionaddict already said.
The red dirt soil of West Africa and the East Coast of the US are remarkably similar. People in West Africa knew how to grow crops in that soil, so they were the ones slavers looked for. Slaves came over with skills.