Question

Which of the following accurately describes the experience of enslaved women in antebellum South Carolina?
A. Enslaved women were protected from sexual abuse by both law and custom.
B. Enslaved women were expected to work from dawn to dusk at a variety of physical tasks.
C. Enslaved women had few freedoms, but they were able to choose when to marry.
D. Enslaved women’s children were considered her property and not that of her enslaver.

Answer 1

B

Enslaved women in antebellum South Carolina typically labored long hours—from dawn to dusk—doing a range of physically demanding tasks (field work, domestic service, childcare, processing crops, etc.). The other choices are incorrect: enslaved women were not legally protected from sexual abuse (A); they generally could not freely choose marriage (C); and their children were legally the property of the enslaver, not the mother (D).