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["Warren F. Smith" <WarrenSmith AT PalmettoBuilders.net>]

>>relationship.  Any work
>>beyond that was paid in cash to the hand and any produce
>>beyond their  quota
>>was theirs to keep or sale.  His lists and ledgers are full
>>of columns of
>>amounts due to the 'hands' because of enterprise or surplus.

This was called the "task system" and was practiced with many permutations.
It is well described in "South Carolina: A History" by Walter Edgar. A hand
would be assigned or expected to, for instance, harvest three rows of rice
for the day. After the three rows were harvested, more could be done for
payment or a hand was free to pursue their own ventures such as cobbling or
blacksmithing or other trades. It wasn't like this on all plantations or
with all planters, but neither was it all as portrayed in "Roots".

>>I wouldn't have wanted to be one of his 'hands', but then
>>again I wouldn't
>>have wanted to be the master either.
>>
>>James

I am in total agreement with your last statement as well.

I was in DC last weekend. The Jefferson Memorial is my favorite monument
there. Its removed, tranquil setting and the resultant views are good
stimuli for his kind of thought. I didn't get to go to the memorial this
trip. For all I know the capitol police are so obtrusive now as to make it
unenjoyable. (I did learn that you can't sit on the retaining wall around
the f b i headquarters and eat a subway sandwich, though). Anyway, I
couldn't help but think TJ and his contemporaries would roll over in their
graves if they saw the size of this government. This was my first trip there
that all I could think about was "my God we're paying for all this". I have
a family function to attend up there in the near future and after that, I
doubt I'll ever go back.

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