Scenes on a Cotton Plantation: Hoeing, engraving from Harper's Weekly, February 2, 1867
    Slaves performed a variety of work on plantations, which were complex and diversified communities. Some slaves worked in their owners' homes as cooks, butlers, and nurses; others worked as skilled artisans like blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, and weavers.

Most slaves labored in the fields. These period engravings depict black men and women working in gangs to produce cotton. Slaves worked long hours, from early morning until evening, using the plow and hoe as their basic tools.
 
Scenes on a Cotton Plantation: Hoeing, engraving from Harper's Weekly, February 2, 1867

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Copyright 2002 The Chicago Historical Society
 
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