f
hog-killing, which was an annual festival. In some parts of the south, in
November or December, corn-husking bees were held, just as the white
people held them on the frontier. When the corn was harvested, it was
piled up in mounds fifty or sixty feet high. Then the slaves from
neighboring plantations were invited to come and help husk the corn. One
negro would leap up on the mound and lead the chorus, all joining lustily
in the singing.

[Illustration: A Slave Settlement.]

Other holidays were given the slaves on the Fourth of July and at
Christmas time. One negro tells us about the barbecue which his master
gave to him and the other slaves. "Yes, honey, dat he did gib us Fourth of
July--a plenty o' holiday--a beef kilt, a mutton, hogs, salt, pepper, an'
eberyting. He hab a gre't trench dug, and a whole load of wood put in it
an' burned down to coals. Den dey put wooden spits across, an' dey had
spoons an' basted de meat. An' we 'vite all de culled people aroun', an'
dey come, an' we had fine times."

The life of the slaves was sometimes hard and bitter, especially when they
were in charge of a cruel overseer on a large plantation. But it was not
always so. For it is pleasant to think that when they had good masters,
there were many things to cheer and brighten their lives. We know that
household slaves often lived in the most friendly relations with their
owners.

* * * * *

We must pass over many of the events which took place while Washington was
President, but you will very likely take them up in your later study.
After serving with marked success for two terms, he again returned (1797)
to private life at Mount Vernon. Here, on December 14, 1799, he died at
the age of sixty-seven, loved and honored by the American people.

Let us always remember with grateful hearts the noble life of the great
man who has rightly been called the "Father of his Country."

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

1. How did the people express their feeling for Washington when he was on
his way to New York to be inaugurated as President?

2. Describe one of his public receptions.

3. Who were the men Washington chose to help him in his new task as
President?

4. What effects did the invention of the cotton-gin have upon slavery?

5. In imagination visit some old plantations and tell what you can about
slave life there.

6. Why has Washington been called the "Father of his Country"?

CHAPTE