"He soon had eight because the commissioners loaned them for two days to the contractor building the war department building just west of the White House."
Quote from Slave Labor in the Capital, page 156
To be strictly accurate "He", namely the commissoners' overseer of laborers Samuel Smallwood, sent 8 slaves and Davey Smallwood to work at the war deparment. Davey was rated at 2 shillings 3 pence for a days work while the other 8 were rated at 4 shillings 6 pence. I haven't made up my mind about who exactly Davey was. There is another reading of the this "Return." Four were Bennett Fenwick's slaves and the others were free. However, in many other payrolls Antony is a slave belonging to Queen. Smallwood always listed slaves by their first name followed immediately by their master's last name.
The wage rate 4 shillings 3 pence a day works out to 117 shillings a month. In 1794 the rate for laborers was 45 shillings a month, then raised to 60 shillings in August 1795. So this is a good wage for the masters, but only for a couple days. Someone needs to take a closer look at wage rates in 1798, 1799 and 1800, and the demand for laborers. Perhaps the commissioners hiring slaves from places like St. Mary's and Charles counties for a year, which they did until 1799, depressed wage rates. Once the labor pool was limited to slaves belonging to contractor/slave dealers like Bennett Fenwick. The wage rate for laborers rose.
As I also mention in the book, page 152, President Jefferson noticed how hiring slaves by the year could depress wages by half, but yearly hires had to be fed, housed, provided with medical care which added to the cost of hiring them. Seen from the slave's viewpoint, I think the demise of the yearly hire system for manual labor (it continued for house servants) was good because it made it easier for slaves to hire themselves out for short term jobs and perhaps pocketing at least some of the wage themselves, though it is hard to imagine in this case that Fenwick's 4 slaves saw any of the money they earned.
The wage rate 4 shillings 3 pence a day works out to 117 shillings a month. In 1794 the rate for laborers was 45 shillings a month, then raised to 60 shillings in August 1795. So this is a good wage for the masters, but only for a couple days. Someone needs to take a closer look at wage rates in 1798, 1799 and 1800, and the demand for laborers. Perhaps the commissioners hiring slaves from places like St. Mary's and Charles counties for a year, which they did until 1799, depressed wage rates. Once the labor pool was limited to slaves belonging to contractor/slave dealers like Bennett Fenwick. The wage rate for laborers rose.
As I also mention in the book, page 152, President Jefferson noticed how hiring slaves by the year could depress wages by half, but yearly hires had to be fed, housed, provided with medical care which added to the cost of hiring them. Seen from the slave's viewpoint, I think the demise of the yearly hire system for manual labor (it continued for house servants) was good because it made it easier for slaves to hire themselves out for short term jobs and perhaps pocketing at least some of the wage themselves, though it is hard to imagine in this case that Fenwick's 4 slaves saw any of the money they earned.
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