Virginia was the most largest and populous colony in within the 13 American colonies. A myriad number of the people living in this colony were farmers, planters, and merchants. A majority of the population were African American who worked in fields for their white masters. In this essay, I am going to compare and contrast the lives of Frethorne, Revel, and Farrer with the selections from William Byrd's diary.
James Revel was a poor unhappy transported felon who wrote about fourteen years of transportation in America. Revel was the only child and his parents were very poor. His parents sent him to school until he was thirteen years old. At the age of thirteen his parents, he was made a tinman. He ran away from his master and got with a bunch of thieves and starting robbing. Revel lacked nothing for he had clothes and food. After getting caught the first time he soon started robbing again and doing things that were very wild. Revel had started drinking with his robbing crew but soon they got caught again. Five of them were impeached and three of them were hung. Revel was one of the five that were tried but instead of being impeached or hung, he was given transported. Revel was quickly sent aboard a ship and out to shore he went. After sailing for seven weeks they were all put ashore in Virginia. They were all refreshed and clean so that they could appear decent to buyers. In Revel story of his life, he talks about how his master bought him and he was forced to wear chains night and day so that he could not escape. He was forced to wear a canvas shirt and trowsers. He could not wear shoes or stockings. He worked in the field from day break until the sun setted in the evening. They had to work for their masters six days a week and produce food on the seventh day. Revel did soon meet another master that was willing to put him on a ship to send him back home if he behaved and the master did just that.
In Frethorne's experiences of an indentured servent, he gives us first hand accounts of his life. Frethorne tells us that he got off a ship and had never ate anything but peas and loblollie. They had to work hard in order to eat. They came in packs of twenty and half of them were dead. The treatment they received was horrible. Within every hour they at least two more of them had died. They lived their life in fear was in a constant battle with their masters. The only clothes he had was a poor suit, two rags, one pair of shoes, one stocking, one cap and two collars. In this letter to this father, Frethorne mentions how there talks about when they go to Jamestown and how they are unloading and loading ships until midnight sometimes. In this letter, you can feel the cry of Frethorne as he misses his family and wants to come back home.
Farrer gives us first hand accounts of the way they lived in the middle colonial period. They had all kinds of fruits, meats, and vegetables. The passengers would be shipped home in 20 to 30 days. There are ships that bring commodities such as clothes, stockings, and linens. They have several churches. In the middle colonial period, the passengers of the ships are more healthier, live longer, and are provided with the necessities that they need to live a healthy life.
In the Diary of William Byrd II, his life was pretty much the same everyday. He ate nothing but beef and danced. It seems as if they have more leisure time because on some days they play billards and have dinner with other people. The life that he lives is more luxurious than the lives of Frethorne, Revel, and Farrer. His schedule was consistent every morning he prayed at got up between 4 and 6 o'clock and thanked God. It seems like he is a very Godly person but he still treated his slaves like the others treated them. He beated them and punished them for things like going to bed early and shutting him out. The Diary of William Byrd shows the life of the Masters and how they treated their slaves.
The lives of Revel, Frethorne's, and Fareer were very different from the lives of William Byrd II. According to his Diary it seem like he lived the life that Revel and Frethorne wanted. There really wasn't a difference in the lives of Farrer and Byrd to me as they both lived great lives. Revel and Frethorne's lives were more horrible and traumatizing. Byrd was actually a master so therefore he got the other end of the stick. He didn't know how it felt to be a slave or work for someone else. Reading each of these selections showed me the view of their lives from their prospective and how as time progressed there was a big difference.
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