Indentured Living Conditions

One of the major similarities between the slaves and indentured workers are their living conditions. Masters were obligated to provide housing for both groups. Both groups were housed on the property of the master. The quarters shared similar features such as being poorly constructed, small and overcrowded, usually had no windows, lack of proper ventilation and with little to no furniture.

plantationlifeduringslavery.wikispaces.com
Slave quarters

Plantationlifedurimgslavery.wikispaces.com, outlines the characteristics of slave quarters (as shown above) along these lines:
• Living spaces were small and the number of slaves living in one space depended on the location and size of the plantation.
• The floor of the living space was made from

Sewell also narrated that everything seen in the capital of St. Vincent, Kingstown was ‘more or less an indication of decay’. George Brizan (1998, p.180) notes the unhealthy surroundings of the lower classes prevalent in urban and rural areas of Grenada. Citing Trinidad's mortality rates as 4.27% in 1848, 4.02% in 1849, 4.12% in 1850, 5.13% in 1851 and an average total mortality for the period of 1 in 27-70 persons, Hector Gavin (July 1852, p.6) concluded that the excessive mortality and in particular, the infant mortality rate, was proof of its defective sanitary conditions. He reported that the 'wretched dwellings' of the poorer classes were generally overcrowded in both the towns and country. (Colebrooke, 12 July

The English slave laws stated that plantation owners were obligated to provide food for the enslaved. According to plantationlifeduringsalvery.wikispaces.com, for slaves, the typical food allowance per week was one peck of cornmeal and three to four pounds of salt pork or bacon. This seemed to maintain the body weight of an adult therefore slave owners found it to be sufficient. They could add vegetables that they raised on their small provision ground, as well as poultry or fish they caught while hunting. Slaves prepared their own food which was mostly done by the women. Slaves were sometimes provided old and tattered pots and pans for cooking. Proper nutrition was scarce in the diet of the slaves. Their diet lacked adequate quantities of vitamins, minerals, was deficient in protein and fat, and short on several B vitamins, vitamin A and possibly vitamin C; there were also iron other mineral deficiencies, which prevented their bodies from functioning efficiently. In the popular song sung by field slaves as shown below, it shows that the whites discriminated them when giving them food which were of small amount, but was considered enough for