An enslaved woman in Barbados had a very difficult life. Whether she was working as a domestic servant or a field hand, she worked hard in horrible conditions. The work would have consisted of long hours, back breaking labor, and long stretches away from her family, all the while with the knowledge that the slightest transgression, real or not, could result in excruciating punishments. Slavery was not easy for anyone but the woman had the added problems of being worked hard when she was pregnant, right up to the moment of labor, being separated from her children either by doing her own work or having them sold to another owner, and the possibility of sexual assault by men in positions of authority.
As a domestic servant, a woman would constantly be under the thumb of their master or mistress but she would have a higher prestige among the other slaves. The day would start early when she got up to go milk the cows or get eggs from the chicken coop for her master’s breakfast. After cooking breakfast and feeding the family, she MIGHT have time to eat her own breakfast before having to clear the dishes from the table and washing them. If children were her responsibility, between milking the cow and fixing breakfast, she would have to help them get ready for the day; if nursing, she would feed the baby while she ate her own breakfast if not before then. After cleaning the breakfast dishes, she would start on doing the laundry for the family and cleaning the house: sweeping, mopping, dusting, and the like. Around midday, she would start fixing the families’ lunch. After clearing the table and doing those dishes, she would continue to do her chores which could include feeding the animals, killing an animal to feed the family that night, and changing bedding. All the while trying to incorporate into her daily routine anything her master or mistress wanted her to do, no matter how nonsensical it may have been. Any slight or perceived transgression would result in corporal punishment, often disproportionately out of sync with the misstep. As a domestic servant, she would be under greater danger of possible sexual assault from her master, his friends, or anyone else who came to the house. Although the domestic servant had a rough life, most of the enslaved women (and men) Barbados worked as field hands.
As a field hand, the woman would have been held to the same set of standards as male field hands. She would have been expected to keep up the same pace and pull their own weight in their team. If she messed up, she would face the same punishment as the men, with no regard for her state, whether pregnant, old, or feeble. The sugar cane fields were particularly brutal. It was back breaking labor underneath the heat of the sun or in the pouring rain, whatever the weather was like. When it was planting season, the work involved following the men, as they dug trenches, and dropping the shoots in. At harvest time, the work involved going into the sugar cane fields with shoots about five feet tall and razor sharp leaf-like structures that could tear their skin in moments. Some women were put in charge the children and were forced to work the kids in whatever way the master or overseer saw fit. If the woman worked in the processing part of the industry, the work was even more dangerous. Depending on the job, she faced the threat of maiming or loss of life, especially when she was working the long hours to get the sugar cane processed within forty-eight hours of harvesting. While the domestic servants might have been held a higher esteem by the field hands, the field hands had more autonomy from their masters. While they may see the master from time to time, the women in the field were not constantly under scrutiny. They were also not as vulnerable to sexual assault although they were still vulnerable to it from other men in positions of authority.
The enslaved woman had a difficult life no matter if she worked in the house or the field. Both involved back breaking labor, long hours, the possibility of sexual assault, and the constant threat of corporal punishment. She also faced forced separation from her family which was especially difficult if she had children. The children were born into slavery and could be sold to another owner without the slightest thought of or consultation with the mother. There is no light that can be shed on the subject that would make the enslaved life tolerable or rosy.
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