Slaves and Slave Owners

Overview of Slavery

Slavery in New Orleans is historic for a multitude of reasons. One major distinction of slavery in this town is that some of the slave owners were African American, they were not all white men enslaving black men. Another somewhat unheard of fact about slavery in New Orleans, is that the slaves did not work on Sundays because of their owners Catholic faith. Many slaves would take this opportunity to go to Congo Square. The slaves in New Orleans were less restricted, they could sell their handmade goods to work toward buying their own freedom. There are many historic plantations in and around New Orleans. Some of the more well known ones include the Whitney Plantation, the Chalmette Plantation, the Evergreen Plantation, and the Oak Alley Plantation. Some of which were featured in films over the years and many are open to the public for tours.

Chalmette

Evergreen

Oak Alley

Whitney

Plantations are a tourist attraction

View the link to see descriptions and a full list of plantations!

Louisiana Plantation Homes

 Plantations

Slave trading is a global issue even today, however, New Orleans is one of the largest known sites for slave trading due to its ease of access to the ocean pipeline. According to Louisiana law, slaves were property that were attached to the land of their owners. An interesting fact is that the sales had to be notarized! In New Orleans, the slave auctions were held every Saturday in very public areas that could handle large crowds. Slaves who were bought and taken to plantations were expected to learn specific skills such as farming, cooking, cleaning, and general work on the land and in the homes. The main crop that the slaves tended to in this area was cotton. Understandably, there were revolts by the slaves on many of the plantations. Follow the link below for more information.

http://whitneyplantation.com/resistance.html

Slave Collar 

The slave collar pictured below was an artifact on display at the Cablido Museum in New Orleans. It was placed on slaves so their locations were known from the sound of the bells. The information presented with it said that when slaves did not want to be able to be heard, they would fill the bells with mud to muffle the sounds.

Free People of Color

This is a description of those in New Orleans who were of African descent but were not enslaved. They could have been born into a family that had bought their freedom or have bought their own. This population can own land and even own slaves of their own if they wish to. For more information please follow the link below.

Finally Abolished 

When slavery was finally abolished, many of the slaves had no idea where to start looking for their families. When families were brought to the slave trade in New Orleans, they were often split up to never see each other again but this did not stop many families from trying to reunite. Freed slaves would often place notices in the New Orleans paper the Southwestern Christian Advocate to look for loved ones. Overall, the slavery population of this famous town was not like any other.

Works Cited

"Remembering New Orleans' Overlooked Ties To Slavery." Npr. N.p., 2015. Web. 2 Jan. 2017. <http://www.npr.org/2015/07/18/423803204/remembering-new-orleans-overlooked-ties-to-slavery>.

" Slavery In Louisiana." Whitney Plantation. N.p., 2016. Web. 2 Jan. 2017. <http://www.whitneyplantation.com/slavery-in-louisiana.html>.