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I didn't know younger children worked in the fields too. What African customs did they complete after a burial?

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A slave's day usually consisted of long hours of physical labor. For a field hand, the workday usually began before dawn and ended well after sunset, often with a two-hour break for the noon meal. Many free white farmers in the South (and North) also put in very long work-days, but the great difference was they were working for themselves and controlled their own work time. African American slaves had no such control and they worked under constant supervision and the threat of physical punishment by their overseers. Indeed, no matter how kindly a slave owner might have been, the slaves did not possess that which Americans most prizedãtheir freedom.

While no rational person would wish to be a slave, the slaves were active agents in their own lives. And though their lives were circumscribed in many significant ways, they sought to make the best of their circumstances. They succeeded to a remarkable extent, a testimonial to the endurance of the human spirit.

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Planters found it hard to adjust to the end of slavery. Accustomed to absolute control over their labor force, many sought to restore the old discipline, only to meet determined opposition from the freedpeople, who equated freedom with economic autonomy.During Reconstruction, many small white farmers, thrown into poverty by the war, entered into cotton production, a major change from prewar days when they concentrated on growing food for their own families.

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Cultural traditions played a particularly important role in helping slaves survive the harshness and misery of life under slavery. Many slaves drew on African customs when they buried their dead

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Cultural traditions played a particularly important role in helping slaves survive the harshness and misery of life under slavery. Many slaves drew on African customs when they buried their dead

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Despite white southerners' attempts to "Christianize" blacks, slaves infused Christianity with their own African tribal and folk customs, creating a religion that spoke to their suffering and promised freedom in the afterlife.

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Despite white southerners' attempts to "Christianize" blacks, slaves infused Christianity with their own African tribal and folk customs, creating a religion that spoke to their suffering and promised freedom in the afterlife.

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Music and religion were sources of strength for slaves, and they infused both with African culture and meaning. 

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Music and religion were sources of strength for slaves, and they infused both with African culture and meaning. 

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 Adult male slaves were primarily relied on to tend the fields, pastures, and gardens.  Overseers on horseback equipped with whips monitored slaves, always threatening to punish "stragglers" with a flogging.  Plantation owners also exploited the work of skilled slaves, such as blacksmiths and carpenters, for their own ends.  Lastly, female slaves and young children usually served as domestics, tending to the master's family as cooks, servants, and housemaids, and were often starved, whipped, and even raped.

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 Adult male slaves were primarily relied on to tend the fields, pastures, and gardens.  Overseers on horseback equipped with whips monitored slaves, always threatening to punish "stragglers" with a flogging.  Plantation owners also exploited the work of skilled slaves, such as blacksmiths and carpenters, for their own ends.  Lastly, female slaves and young children usually served as domestics, tending to the master's family as cooks, servants, and housemaids, and were often starved, whipped, and even raped.

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Slaves, especially those in the field, worked from sunrise until sunset. Even small children and the elderly were not exempt from these long work hours.