Sandy Spring Slave Museum: Slaver Cross-section

By Cory Watkins
HS 129, Summer 1 2009

I chose to go and check out the Sandy Spring Slave Museum & African Art Gallery, It is located in Sandy Spring, Maryland. I found this location on the list of sources on the blog assignment sheet. I chose this site over anything else because it was close to home and I was really interested to physically see a slaver ship. It is located off of Brook Road, a back road in Sandy Spring.

I visited this site on June 5th, 2009. There they had a replica slaver ship and a log cabin which slaves would have lived in. I chose to talk about the slaver ship in particular because I thought it was very interesting. It caught my eye and put into perspective what African Americans had to go through during the Middle Passage. Just reading the chapters in our textbook, African American Odyssey, does not really show you all that they went through, but actually going and seeing it really opened my eyes. The boat was a lot like the reading, just I couldn’t actually see it while reading, so it was a great experience to actually see it

I liked that they had an actual boat that you could walk up to and look inside. This was not an actual boat from that time but was created using information from that time period. It was not a full boat but, rather, part of the boat that the slaves were kept in. This slaver ship depicts where slaves would have been kept during their transportation from Africa on the boat during the Middle Passage. It was about three feet high and there were many people in close quarters. There were shackles everywhere, people bleeding, and just overall nasty conditions. The individuals inside had very little clothing and inside they had a bucket to eat from. The people who created this exhibit were definitely trying to show viewers the experience that African Americans had during the Middle Passage.


The dates associated with this slaver ship would be any dates where slaver ships were used. This slaver ship does not represent a particular boat but just the conditions aboard these slaver ships in general. So dates could range from 1451 to 1870.

This exhibit tells me a lot about African American History. For one, it tells me that African Americans went through way too much undeserved pain and suffering. It tells me that they treated African Americans like animals and not people. It tells me that people can be really mean and will do anything for money. I’m just glad that this era is over with and no one goes through this pain any longer.


I think this museum is very important for people to see. People need to realize that racism is so wrong and that people are just people. No one deserves to be held unwillingly unless they have broken a law. These African Americans never did anything do deserve the maltreatment they received. Everyone needs to see this exhibit because they need to see for themselves what these African Americans had to go through. I would tell future generations that they should visit this museum and to not forget about the past history because we would never want anything like this to ever happen again.


Works Cited: Sandy Spring Slave Museum website: http://www.sandyspringslavemuseum.org/

The Homes of Many: Sandy Spring Slave Museum, Slave Cabin

By Ashley Hungerford
HS 129, Summer 1 2009

As many know by now slaves had a hard life. For starters, many people were taken from their family and everything that they knew by people who they had never met before in their lives. Both slaves and freed slaves had to deal with the hurt from being belittled, segregated, and wanted only for work purposes by almost every white person just because of a system that people created, which in turn shaped what I believe to be unjustified beliefs. This sounds like a very painful experience both mentally and physically. I say mentally because they lost everything, I mean even their freedom. They also had to deal with culture shock: a state of bewilderment and distress experienced by people who are suddenly exposed to a new, strange, and foreign environment.

I say “physically” because after Africans or Indians were taken from their homes they were put on ships that they called slavers. These ships transported slaves around the world, to many different locations. The slaves, who actually made it off the ship without dying from disease, ended up being owned by other people, the way we own our animals today. Unfortunately, I am not done yet; their experiences did not get any better for a long time. The slaves ended up working all day long and sometimes right through the night depending on what kind of work they were told to do by their masters. (Fieldwork, housework, watching kids, cleaning, cooking, etc...) The slaves had bad living situations, too. they lived in these little shacks some with dirt floors, of course not much furniture at all, and sometimes not even a bed to sleep on.

I have just visited the Sandy Spring Slave Museum and Art Gallery, in Maryland! I chose this museum because it was fairly close to where I live, and when I looked the museum up, they were showing pictures of the cabin and the model of the slaver! I thought that the house was more interesting when I got there because it was a real house, one that has not been rebuilt just for show. Another interesting fact about the log cabin is that it has been in Maryland since it has been built.

It was not open because it opens by appointment only. You must call a week in advance and it is five dollars a person. This pays for the guided tour! I did not know this until after I went, so I did the best I could with taking pictures of a log cabin. The address of this museum is 18524 Brooke Road, Sandy Spring MD, 20860.

The wood on the log cabin was dated back to about 1850. This log cabin is what the Africans Americans both enslaved and freed would live in. Sometimes, families of ten to twelve people would live in this cabin all at once. You could imagine the struggles the slaves had to deal with. For example, they had to live in something that is no bigger than a full size master bathroom, living with ten to twelve others.

Not only did they have to deal with the discomfort of being right on top of everyone else all the time, everyone would probably smell bad. They would smell bad because of working all day in the fields and then coming home to a house full of people and no bathroom to take a shower in.

Inside the house, there was probably a cooking stove, one mat to sleep on, and dirt floors. So everyone that lived in the house back then probably washed themselves and everything else that needed to be washed (clothes, dishes, etc..) in a nearby creek or river. In 1992, this exact cabin was relocated from nearby Olney, Maryland, which is just west of Sandy Spring!

I chose these pictures because they show and are real life evidence of the hardships that African Americans have encountered. The pictures show that compared to today African American life has changed significantly. The pictures also help us to see how things gradually got better, very little things changed first for example, the places the African Americans lived. They gradually got better when the slaves in the north started being able to live on their own and work to pay for their freedom.

It is amazing to see real living situations of people that existed way before our time. These people have suffered things that are unimaginable to me. My heart goes out to the people that had to live this life. These slaves freed or not, lived in a shack that they probably had to build, and worked for people that were not giving them anything in return. They had no freedom and depending on where they were and on the time that they became enslaved, they might not have ever gotten it back. The pictures that you see here are history and proof of Africans struggles as slaves just over a century ago!

Slaves were here, standing on the same ground that we are standing on today. Imagine standing in the same place and going back two three and four hundred years. This cabin housed people in what is now Olney, Maryland. The slaves that would have lived in this exact log cabin were probably tobacco farmers because remember the Chesapeake colonies (Virginia, Maryland before it expanded) were big on tobacco. That was their main form of profit in the late 1850’s and that is about the time that the cabin was built.

Works Cited: http://www.sandyspringslavemuseum.org/

Northampton Plantation

By: Juanita Fisher
HS 129, Summer 1 2009

The Northampton Plantation is a self-guided archaeological site that is located in Northlake residential in Lake Arbor, MD, which is in Prince George’s County at a community park. I was fortunate to find this location doing an internet search. I chose this site because it is approximately 15 miles from where I reside and I had no idea of the history that was so close to where I live. I recently visited the location on May 30th with my family, who really enjoyed the history of seeing a slave quarter.

Excavation took place in the 18th century with artifacts, oral histories, and historical documents. The excavation continued from dwelling, while the foundation and partial walls of the brick quarters have been constructed three centuries later which I have taken pictures of. Many of the slaves remained in the Prince George’s county surrounding area.

The Northampton Plantation was a tobacco plantation that also produced other crops from the 1600s. The land was granted by Charles Calvert, Esq. the third to Thomas Sprigg. Thomas Sprigg and his family lived and owned slaves for 200 centuries . If you would visit this location as of today you would find the remains of the main plantation house, out building, and two slave quarters. The site relates to African American history because of the plantation on which slaves reside on for 200 centuries, and this was a prominent plantation in Prince George’s County for growing tobacco.

Caulking Tools and Shackles

By: Jada Monet
HS 129, Summer 1, 2009

Last Saturday (May 30, 2009), I went to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture. I was really skeptical about going, because I really wanted to go to the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, located in Baltimore, Maryland. I’ve never been to either, but I’ve heard positive comments about the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum. In fact, when I asked my friends and family if they knew of an African American Museum that relates to African American history before 1865, almost all of them said, with authority, “The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, in Baltimore, Maryland.” So when my aunt picked me up and headed towards Baltimore, I was surprised that she did not arrive at The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding as to which museum I wanted to go when I asked if she could take me to the African American museum in Baltimore. It never dawned on me that there were other African American Museums in Baltimore.

Regardless, I had to settle for the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture, which I’ve never heard of. To make matters even worst, upon entering, I was unhappy to hear that cameras were prohibited. I immediately panicked because I was unsure of how I would go about completing my project. As a result, I had to find images on the web that coincided with those at the museum.

While touring the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture, I stumbled upon a section located on the third floor that depicted life of the African American slaves during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The dimly lit room was comprised of several items associated with the daily work and conditions of African American slaves. Amongst all, the caulking tools and wrist shackles were most appealing; I was familiar with both but had never seen either. Amazed, I hurried over to examine them.

Much different than present day caulking tools, the caulking tools used by the slaves in the early seventeenth century had simplistic designs, were made of heavy iron, and required more strength to handle. The caulking tools contained a circle similar to the head of a nail, but much bigger. The caulking tools narrowed and flattened as it reached the bottom. Modern caulking tools are usually associated with bathtub fixes. However, in the early seventeenth century, caulking was a skilled trade, used to maintain a ship’s structure. The museum had an interactive display of caulking tools, which allowed visitors to manipulate the tools and experience the hard work and strength required for caulking. As I banged the caulking tools against the wooden surface, I imagined that I was a slave working on a ship on a hot and sunny day like Frederick Douglass. I couldn’t fathom how one could work tirelessly, around excessive loud noise, with minimal breaks completing such a task. The idea alone left me perturbed.

I then proceeded to walk towards the wrist shackles. I realized that I would not have the opportunity to have the hands-on experience of handling the museum’s only set because they were confined to a clear boxlike display. Nevertheless, I observed the shackles from several angles, noticing its thickness, structure, and overall condition. (See attached image of shackles). From its appearance, it was obvious that the shackles were tightly fitted and could cause skin irritation to those who wore them. I’ve always known that it wasn’t uncommon for African American slaves to be bound, but to see the actual shackles made my encounter all the more surreal. I realized then that my doubts of going to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture instead of another African American museum were ludicrous.

Wrist shackles were essential for slave owners to maintain control over African American slaves. Shackles symbolized the lack of authority African Americans had in their own lives and the oppression they endured as slaves. Without shackles, slaves could attempt to escape their owners or possibly form rebellions. The shackles were especially beneficial during the Atlantic Slave Trade, which began around the sixteenth century, in which slaves were captured and traded throughout several countries. On the slavers, which carried the slaves from one location to the next, slaves were separated in groups and bound together by shackles. The ships were “tightly packed” with many men being chained by shackles, leaving little room to move. The attached image shows how tight the shackles would fit. On land, shackles kept the slaves in order as they worked as human manufacturers or as potential buyers inspected them. The use of wrist shackles exemplifies the plight of African American slaves and demonstrates how freedom for African American slaves was far-flung.

Caulking tools provided African American slaves with jobs while on the slavers. The ships required daily maintenance to uphold its structure. Therefore, caulking was a necessity. The task, itself, was difficult, requiring patience, steadiness, and a substantial amount of force. The fact that white Americans, slave owners, or overall authoritative figures would have slaves work on slavers in such a skilled trade as caulking reveals the inevitable need of slaves in multiple areas.[1] However, those involved in caulking were considered skilled and consequently, had the opportunity to somewhat gain independence. These slaves often “hired their time” and was even able to leave to get their own tools.

The use of shackles to keep the slaves confined is of relevance today and will continue to be in the future. For example, currently, instead of shackles handcuffs are used in jails and prisons around the world. They, however, are not limited to only African Americans. Since shackles were used in the earlier centuries and handcuffs are used in the present, it is evident that history really does repeat itself. Those incarcerated are limited in what they can do; their food, clothing, and schedule are chosen for them. Most interestingly, like in the past, those individuals of the poor classes are most commonly incarcerated. Thus, it is important that current and future generations become familiar with artifacts that are exhibited in the museums or of locations of great significance.

It is amazing how items from the past can be linked to the future. If current and future generations take note of what is occurring during their time, they could almost always find a connection with the past. I will never know, firsthand, the ill-treatment African American slaves experienced. Yet since these items provided me with a glimpse of the lives of slaves, I am certain that I have a better comprehension of their struggles.

Works Cited
Hine, Darlene Clark, William C. Hine, and Stanley Harrold. The African-American Odyssey Volume One: To 1877. 3rd. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.

Jean Boudriot Hitchcok, “Hitchcock” 06 June 2009 http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade%20/collection/medium/H001.JPG

“Live Auctioneers” 06 June 2009
http://photos.liveauctioneers.com/houses/early_american_auctions/9700/0466_1_md.jpg

“Maryland Historical Society” 07 June 2009
http://www.mdhs.org/education%20documents/caulkingirons.jpg

Williams, Walter E. “Are Americans Pro-Slavery.” “A Minority’s View.” 11 June 2008. 18 June 2009 http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/articles/08/AreAmericansPro-Slavery.htm

[1] See last citation regarding Frederick Douglass.