They had Sunday off, as a rule, and they made the most of it. Whereas many history books make it seem like slaves were out there under the whip almost ever day of their lives, working fingers to the bone and being beaten if they refused any order.
Sundays they commonly spend in fishing making Potatoes [digging up their small lots of ground allow'd by their Master], building and patching their Quarters or rather cabins" (taken from a Plantation tutor of the Old Dominion, Williamsburg VA, 1957). And also on page 32, the author takes a passage from a book that was published in 1784 by Englishman J.F.D. Smyth, a Tour in the United States of America. This kind of research allows the reader to see that life for slaves involved dance, music, and cultural enjoyment. Life for slaves was rough, no doubt, but there was also time for "communalism" (p. 32).
Instead of retiring to rest, as might naturally be concluded he [the slave] would be glad to do, he generally sets out from home, and walks six or seven miles in the night, be the weather ever so sultry, to a negroe dance, in which he performs with astonishing agility, and the most vigorous exertions, keeping time and cadence, most exactly, with the music of a banjor large hollow instrument with three strings), and a quaqua (somewhat resembling a drum) until he exhausts himself, and scarcely has time, or strength, to return home before the hour he is called forth to toil next morning."17
The resources that Isaac has employed to put this book together clearly required years of digging...
His perspective is empathetic and yet he doesn't back away from the reality of the social situations. As an example, Isaac has set out to make a point that religion played as large or perhaps even a larger role in the lives of the colonists, as did their desire for independence and political freedom. And in the process, the typical parson depended on the "goodwill of the gentry of his parish" (p. 145), which caused the typical parson to feel "a sense of insecurity and to be a source of endemic conflict."
It seems that although the church was a huge part of the cultural and social life of Virginia, parsons were "forced into a client status" which was a degrading situation to be put into. "Members of the clergy, therefore, were understandably anxious about issues relating to tenure and guaranteed income" (145). The ministers felt that the dignity of their position would translate into respect in terms of consistent wages and a good life. It was not to be that way. And readers in 2008 have Isaac to thank for bringing those realities to life. This is a wonderful book, rich with illustrations and references; Isaac includes a closer look at some of the issues and pastimes - by slaves and white citizens - that make colonial history far more interesting than most other books.
Works Cited
Isaac, Rhys. The Transformation of Virginia 1740-1790. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1982.
