Slave Cabins

Growing Up a Slave

From the earliest age, children were trained to do their parents' work. They were terrified of the punishment their parents endured. Parents taught their enslaved children strict obedience so they could survive. And yet, like children today, ...

Slave Cabins

Voices From the Past

The slave quarters were a place to find identity and strength through family, faith, and shared experiences.

Many American traditions originate from the daily activities and beliefs of enslaved people. Practices that survive today revolve around cooking, singing, ...

Slave Cabins

Looking Back

The island's landscape has changed dramatically since the plantation era. Gone are the roofs, fruit trees, wells, and garden plots. Trees and grasses now replace fields once tilled by slaves.

To be a slave was to be a human being ...

Slave Cabins

Strength to Survive

In front of you are the remains of 25 cabins, the homes of 60 to 80 men, women, and children. These people had the strength to survive the misery of slavery.

Before dawn, slaves left for their day's labor, ...

Slave Cabins

Resistance

Slaves actively resisted bondage by purposefully slowing down their work pace, faking illness, or even mutilating themselves in order to lessen their value as human property.

Resisting the inhumanity of their enslaved condition, slaves struggled to maintain a family life. Some ...

Slave Cabins

Growing Up a Slave

From the earliest age, children were trained to do their parents' work. They were terrified of the punishment their parents endured. Parents taught their enslaved children strict obedience so they could survive. And yet, like children today, ...

Slaves Cabins

At the Edge between Two Worlds

You are standing at the edge of two worlds. You are leaving the world of the owner and entering the world of the slave.

The cabin ruins before you are a vivid testament to ...