Antebellum Gardens
Courtesy of the New York Public Library
Frederick Douglass lived on the Eastern shore of Maryland until his escape. He recalls his owner Colonel Lloyd “kept a large and finely cultivated garden. . . . From that garden scarcely a day passed, during the summer, but that some slave had to take the lash for stealing fruit,” writes Douglass. The lash did not stop enslaved people from stealing food from the garden. A lack of food contributed to stealing.
