I selected a man named Clayton Holbert from Linn County, Tennessee. Clayton is 86 years old. Clayton starts off by briefly talking about his master, Pleasant Holbert, and his large plantation with about 100 slaves. As a young boy, Clayton learned to plant corn, knit, carve, fix cotton, etc. The slaves produced all of their living on the plantation and never went into the town to buy anything. Everything was handmade. Clayton tells us that they killed dozens of hogs for their meat, and that their meat was the finest possible back then. He goes on to say that it had a lot of flavor, and when they ran out of meat they would go to their neighbors’ house and borrow or buy more meat. Surprisingly, Clayton states that people were friendlier back then than they are…show more content… He goes on to tell us that all of the maple syrup was made from maple trees, and that it was a lot better than the refined sugar that people have now a days. Clayton was never sold and always had one master. He reminisces on times of death, saying that there were no cemeteries, and that bodies were buried right there on the plantation, at least 6 feet under the ground. During pass time, the slaves danced or went to prayer meetings. Christmas was a big celebration. The slaves worked until Christmas Eve, and from then until New Years was their vacation. At seven or eight years old, Clayton and his mother received their freedom. Although they were freed, they stayed for another two years and worked, and their master paid them. The slaves were always known by the master’s last name, and after being freed they took their masters last name and kept it. Clayton was optimistic about his past, stating that most of the slave owners were good to their slaves. What I can learn from this transcript of slavery is that not all slaves were treated badly. My original mindset was that all slaves were treated terribly by their
