Slavery was work, often very hard work, sustained by force and the threat of humiliation and separation from family and community. Most commonly,Slave labor differed according to period and location. it was routinized and mind-numbing, a repetition of the same tasks or movements, changed only by the season of the year or time of day. This image gave rise to the expression “factories in the field,” evoking an early industrial model where workers were no more than cogs in a machine.
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