How was the family life and religious life of slaves?

Answer 1

During the early times of slavery, slave families were often sold apart. Mothers and infants would be separated at auctions, as would husbands and wives or brothers and sisters. Later, a law came along that forbade owners from separating husbands and wives or mothers and children under 14. If a family was able to stay together, they were very reliant on each other. The parents would rely on their child, who often had less work than the parents, to get any extra food they could during their free time. Wives and children depended on the father to get firewood in the winter or do any repairs needed on the house. Sometimes, they would even have to build the whole house themselves. The mothers and wives were relied on to take what little food rations they got, often cornbread and some meat, combined with what their children could get and make it into a meal. As for their religious life, most slaves, if they were Christian, gravitated toward the Methodist and Baptist religions, rather than the strict ways of the Presbyterians and Episcopalians. Generally, if they didn't have to work on Sunday, slaves would try to have something resembling a church service at the quarters. Something slaves are infamous for is singing in the fields while they worked. They would sing to communicate messages (such as singing a song about Moses if Harriet Tubman was coming) or to simply lift each other's spirits. They would often sings songs about freedom, a taboo subject, disguised as religious songs. Some of these are "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and the infamous "Follow the Drinking Gourd".