The Christmas season brings with it traditions that have often been celebrated for generations. Many traditions such as trimming the tree and caroling originated in the 19th-century. For Ellen Bellamy, she recalled 19th-century Christmas celebrations at “Uncle Taylor’s” house, where a feast was planned for over two dozen people and, "the table extended from the front windows to the back. They prepared for this dinner for weeks.” Ellen remembered being amazed by “a pyramid of glass which extended up to the top of the ceiling and was decorated with flowers and fruit.” It is thanks to Ellen’s recollections that we know what the holidays were like for the Bellamys and their prominent extended family. However, what was Christmas like for their enslaved workers? While we have no documentary evidence of what Christmas was like for the men, women, and children enslaved at the Bellamy mansion, there is written evidence of what enslaved people throughout the antebellum South and here in North Carolina experienced during the holidays.
 Ellen Bellamy |  "Uncle Taylor's" house, located on the other side of First Baptist church |
Slave-owners were often more lenient and generous with their enslaved workers around the holidays, such as in the number of passes they gave out to their slaves. These passes allowed enslaved individuals to travel off their owner’s property and into town or to other nearby plantations, which allowed them to visit friends or relatives on nearby plantations. Without a pass, enslaved workers risked the chance of getting caught by patrols and being whipped. Since there was more travel happening around the end of the year, “planters were usually more liberal in issuing passes during the Christmas season“ (Wiggins 206). However, during this time the amount of nighttime patrols were increased to capture runaways.
In Southern cities, contracts for work began on or around January 1st for enslaved individuals. Christmas was a time when they could be with their loved ones before being hired out for months or even the entire year to another family or business. Sometimes the enslaved worker was contracted to someone in another city or even another state. Slave-owners gave these incentives in order to quell any thoughts of slave rebellions or escape during the holidays. Enslaved worker Henry Bibb recalled making plans to run away at the end of the year, but before he could act on his plans, Bibb’s master gave him the option to get married. Bibb remained and the marriage festivities consumed his time, as he says “Our Christmas holidays were spent in matrimonial visiting among our friends, while it should have been spent in running away to Canada” (Bigham).
In Southern cities, contracts for work began on or around January 1st for enslaved individuals. Christmas was a time when they could be with their loved ones before being hired out for months or even the entire year to another family or business. Sometimes the enslaved worker was contracted to someone in another city or even another state. Slave-owners gave these incentives in order to quell any thoughts of slave rebellions or escape during the holidays. Enslaved worker Henry Bibb recalled making plans to run away at the end of the year, but before he could act on his plans, Bibb’s master gave him the option to get married. Bibb remained and the marriage festivities consumed his time, as he says “Our Christmas holidays were spent in matrimonial visiting among our friends, while it should have been spent in running away to Canada” (Bigham).
"Plantation Frolic On Christmas Eve." Library of Congress.
Other “traditions” that occurred around the Christmas season were those of slave-owners giving small gifts and feasts to their enslaved workers. Slave-owners filled up enslaved children’s stockings on Christmas day with small knickknacks like fruit and nuts, and Christmas was when enslaved individuals received their one pair of shoes for the year. As Emma Blalock recalled in Slave Narratives: A Folk History in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, “We had plenty homespun dresses and we got shoes once a year, at Christmas Eve. I ken ‘member it just as good. We got Christmas Holidays an’ a stocking full of candy an’ peanuts. Sometimes we got ginger snaps at Christmas. My grandmother cooked them.” Slave-owners giving gifts to their enslaved workers was a way to show to the world how affluent a family was. This was especially seen during the Civil War when “consumer shortages threatened to interrupt their performance. Slave-owners desperately sought even the paltriest gifts for slaves, knowing that their pretensions of power hinged in part on their being able to repeat past gift-giving” (Bigham). In addition, the Christmas season was a time when slave-owners gave special food and alcohol to their enslaved workers in celebration. Food and alcohol that was given, though not all together at once, included turkey, pigs, sweets, nuts, rabbits that they were given permission to catch, whiskey, eggnog, brandy, cedar, wine or beer. With these feasts, “whole hogs, sheep, or beeves were cooked and the slaves ate peach cobbler and apple dumplings, and frequently got drunk.” (Blassingame 107).
However, there were former slaves who reported that their owners never gave them time off for Christmas or New Year’s. As Charity McAllister says in Slave Narratives, “Dey did not give us any holidays Christmas in Harnett County. Dat was ‘gisnt de rules.” While some reports say that most slaves were given anywhere from a day up to a week of time off during the holidays, this was not a guarantee, especially in the case of slaves on plantations or slave-owners punishing slaves for misbehavior earlier in the year. The entirety of the holiday experience was based upon the master and what they deemed appropriate. For some slave-owners, the enslaved worker’s celebrations during Christmas were seen as entertaining, such as their dancing, and often slave-owners had the workers sing or play the fiddle for them on Christmas day.
However, there were former slaves who reported that their owners never gave them time off for Christmas or New Year’s. As Charity McAllister says in Slave Narratives, “Dey did not give us any holidays Christmas in Harnett County. Dat was ‘gisnt de rules.” While some reports say that most slaves were given anywhere from a day up to a week of time off during the holidays, this was not a guarantee, especially in the case of slaves on plantations or slave-owners punishing slaves for misbehavior earlier in the year. The entirety of the holiday experience was based upon the master and what they deemed appropriate. For some slave-owners, the enslaved worker’s celebrations during Christmas were seen as entertaining, such as their dancing, and often slave-owners had the workers sing or play the fiddle for them on Christmas day.
Decorated tree in the Urban Slave Quarters at the Bellamy mansion
While the holiday experiences of enslaved workers at the Bellamy mansion are unknown, at the Bellamy Mansion Museum visitors can experience the fully decorated mansion as well visit the decorated original slaves quarters. The decorations in the slave quarters are designed according to the research mentioned in this article, as well as other research on the experience of enslaved workers during the holiday season throughout North Carolina.
Written by Bellamy Mansion Museum intern and UNCW English major Kasey Baker
Special thanks to former Bellamy Mansion intern Alyson Mayernik for her research on this topic, which was used in the writing of this article.
Works Cited:
-Bigham, Shauna, and Robert E. May. "The Time o' all Times? Masters, Slaves, and Christmas in the Old South." Journal of the Early Republic 18, no. 2 (Summer, 1998): 263-288. https://search- proquest-com.liblink.uncw.edu/docview/220950705?accountid=14606.
-Blassingame, John W. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1940.
-“Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938.” Library of Congress, online collection. Accessed 12 Nov. 2018. Web.
-Wiggins, D. “Good Times on the Old Plantation: Popular Recreations of the Black Slave in Antebellum South, 1810-1860.” Journal of Sports History 4. Fall 1997. 260-284.
Special thanks to former Bellamy Mansion intern Alyson Mayernik for her research on this topic, which was used in the writing of this article.
Works Cited:
-Bigham, Shauna, and Robert E. May. "The Time o' all Times? Masters, Slaves, and Christmas in the Old South." Journal of the Early Republic 18, no. 2 (Summer, 1998): 263-288. https://search- proquest-com.liblink.uncw.edu/docview/220950705?accountid=14606.
-Blassingame, John W. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1940.
-“Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938.” Library of Congress, online collection. Accessed 12 Nov. 2018. Web.
-Wiggins, D. “Good Times on the Old Plantation: Popular Recreations of the Black Slave in Antebellum South, 1810-1860.” Journal of Sports History 4. Fall 1997. 260-284.
