Good Dirt

While many kidnapped Africans and enslaved persons were forced to labor as field workers or domestic servants on American plantations dedicated to growing cotton, sugar cane, or tobacco, many African Americans during the colonial antebellum period (before the Civil War) were skilled laborers. In addition to providing food, they worked as weavers, wood carvers, metal workers, carpenters, wheelwrights, and blacksmiths. Enslaved persons were sometimes apprenticed in skilled trades like cabinet-making or printing and engraving, or they were assigned to work as gold or silver smiths. Workers with specific skills were assigned a higher purchase value than those who were forced into unskilled labor. While the skilled workers were compelled to produce goods for their farm, with the surplus being sold for the famer’s profit, some artists and craftsmen were allowed a portion of the sales of their work. Sometimes the artisan could earn enough from their creations to eventually buy their own freedom.

In some cases, the person’s skill was derived from their country or culture of origin. For example, the Mandé and Wolof peoples of West Africa knew advanced blacksmithing techniques, and Wilkerson references their knowledge in the novel. Some African Americans used African coiling techniques in making baskets and traditional African designs in pots made for personal use.