Louisiana Slave Database 1

Running Head: Louisiana Slave Database

Project #2

1718-1820 Louisiana Slave Database

Samuel R. Morris

SOWK 300

Tuskegee University

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

 Louisiana Slave Database 2

Graph 1

Descriptive Paragraph: Based on the data above, there was a variation of sexes that comprised

of the slaves within the Louisiana region. 39.22% of the slaves were women while 50.79% of

the slaves were men. Because some of the data was missing, 9.99% that was reported missing

could be either male or female. Because of these findings, one can conclude that men were more

valuable to slave owners that women were.

Interpretive Paragraph: These findings were very unusual to me because based on historical

facts, I thought there were more female slaves than male slaves. One can only conclude that men

were more valuable to the slave owners for various reasons. I believe that the slave owners
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wanted more male slaves because of their strength and endurance. Moreover, males could have

done the work much longer and sometimes quicker than women could.
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Graph 2

Descriptive Paragraph: The graph above shows the different origins of the slaves that were in

the Louisiana area. One thing that was very surprising is that 62.2% of the slaves are from and

unknown origin. Another thing that was surprising is that slaves that had an African origin only

comprised of 24.2%. Slaves who had origins came from Creoles, the Caribbean, Anglo or

Indians reported numbers less than 10%.

Interpretive Paragraph: These findings were very surprising to me. The reported data above

shows that most of the slaves within the Louisiana area had an origin other than African –

although Africans did report a high percentage number. Moreover, it shows that the slaves
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within this area were also very diverse and different. With all this, the slaves within the

Louisiana area were a group of special and unique people.

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Graph 3

Descriptive Paragraph: The graph above shows the different characteristics of the slaves that

were in the Louisiana area. 40.4% of the slaves reported were good and well-behaved slaves

while 35.6% were runaways or helped slaves runaway. Another interesting fact is that 2.3%

were insubordinate, 4.4% were thieves and 1.2% committed serious crimes. Although there

were a high number of slaves where well-behaved, there were a few “bad apples” amongst the

group.

Interpretive Paragraph: The data reported above showed some interesting things about the

slave characteristics, which I found to be very entertaining. I was not surprise with the number
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of slaves that were good because of the fear that was probably inflicted on them, they wanted to

make sure that they stayed alive. Moreover, I was very surprised to the different characteristics

that were reported. Some of these same characteristics are found amongst our own black

community and we can see that they were alive even back in the days of slavery.
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Graph 4

Descriptive Paragraph: This graph shows the different skills of the slaves that lived within the

Louisiana area. 31.1% of the slaves had domestic skills while 22.6% of the slaves had skills

within agriculture. A very interesting finding is that 22.9% of the slaves had skills in crafts.

Although these skills proved vital, some slaves had unique and different skills as well. 0.8% of

the slaves had skills in marketing and 0.5% had skills in fishing and hunting.

Interpretive Paragraph: I found these findings to be very interesting because not only do they

shed light on the skills that slaves had, but also puts a perspective on our present cultural

activities. I was not surprise to see that there was a large majority of slaves that knew how to do
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domestic things because most slaves knew how to take care of themselves and their families.

What did surprise me was that there were a small percentage of slaves that had marketing skills.

This tells me that there were slaves that did learn how to read and write and used those skills to

become businessmen.
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Graph 5

Descriptive Paragraph: The graph above shows data about the different regions that the slaves

were taken from in Africa. 30.5% of the slaves were taken from the region of Senegambia while

18.7% of the slaves came from Central Africa. Moreover, 24.6% of the slaves were Africans

only. This shows that some of the slaves may not have been from Africa at all which .6% of the

slaves came from an unidentified nation. The data also shows that only .4% came from the Gold

Coast and .5% came from Mozambique – these places are popular countries on the African

continent.
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Interpretive Paragraph: The data above showed some very interesting things about the

different regions that the slaves were taken from. I was very surprised about these findings

because I thought more slaves came from the Gold Coast and I was wrong – well at least about

the Louisiana slaves. I know that slaves came from different places but the data showed that

they came from all over the African continent. Moreover, the data also allowed me to realize

that the Louisiana slaves were a very diverse set of slaves within America.
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Summary and Conclusion

Understanding slavery is very essential in understanding American history. This one act

within our history has plagued our existence for centuries, but rather than covering up the origins

and facts about these slaves, we should share it with the world – and that is what this database

has done. There were so many interesting facts that I was not aware of about slaves in general

and the slaves within the Louisiana area. Moreover, the data allowed me to “walk down memory

lane” understanding the life and times that these slaves lived in.

In addition, I was very surprised to find out the different skills that these slaves had. I

know that slavery was hard work, but did not realize that slaves learned so much in order to

survive on a daily basis. Slaves had a very hard life and the data gathered through this research

has allowed me to better understand that world. In conclusion, based on the data gathered

through this database, I can say that the slaves within the Louisiana area were truly a unique,

diverse set of people – and this has lingered on through the history of Louisiana.
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Appendix

Mozambique
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Codebook

Item 1: SEX
1 = female
2 = male
9 = sex is unidentified

Item 2: ORIGIN
1 = Creole
2 = African
3 = Caribbean
4 = Anglo
5 = Indian
6 = Other
7 = Unidentified

Item 3: CHARCAT
1 = runaway, helps runaways
2 = behavior problems, bad character in general, insubordinate
3 = thief, ladron,voleur,
4 = strong, good worker, forte, fuerte
5 = intelligent, intelligente
6 = gambler
7 = criminal behavior, in jail, accused of some serious crime
8 = good character, bon sujet, etc.
10 = drunkard, boracho, (also 73 under sick).

Item 4: SKILLGP
1 = agriculture
2 = domestic
3 = security
4 = fish & hunt
5 = horse/cattle, leather, meat
6 = forestry/lumber
7 = land transport
8 = maritime/water transport
9 = industry
10 = marketing
11 = crafts
12 = health care
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Item 5: AFREGION
1 = Senegambia
2 = Sierra Leone
3 = Gold Coast
4 = Bright of Benin
5 = Bright of Biafra
6 = Central Africa
7 = Mozambique
8 = Nation Unidentified
9 = Africans Only
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Syntax Files

DATASET ACTIVATE DataSet1.

'.GRAPH
/PIE=PCT BY sex
/MISSING=REPORT
/TITLE='Louisiana Slave Database' "R's Sex"
/SUBTITLE='% of the Different Sexes of the Slaves within Louisana '
/FOOTNOTE='1718-1820 Louisiana Slave Database '.

GRAPH
/BAR(SIMPLE)=PCT BY origin
/TITLE='Louisiana Slave Database' "R's Origin"
/SUBTITLE='% of the Different Origins of Slaves within the Louisana Slave Code Database'
/FOOTNOTE='1718-1820 Louiisana Slave Database'.

GRAPH
/BAR(SIMPLE)=PCT BY charcat
/TITLE='Louisiana Slave Database' "R's CHARCAT"
/SUBTITLE='Characteristics of the Slave by Category '
/FOOTNOTE='1718-1820 Louisiana Slave Database'.

GRAPH
/BAR(SIMPLE)=PCT BY skillgp
/TITLE='Louisiana Slave Database' "R's SKILLGP"
/SUBTITLE='Primary Occupation/Skill of the Slave '
/FOOTNOTE='1718-1820 Louisiana Slave Database'.

GRAPH
/BAR(SIMPLE)=PCT BY afregion
/TITLE='Louisiana Slave Database' "R's AFREGION"
/SUBTITLE='African Region where the Slave is from. '
/FOOTNOTE='1718-1820 Louisiana Slave Database'.
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Output
Louisiana Slave Database 18
Louisiana Slave Database 19
Louisiana Slave Database 20
Louisiana Slave Database 21