Captive

When African Americans were auctioned off at the slave trade, they were considered to be the property of the owner. Slaves were then taken to the homes of the owner and usually assigned to be a field slave working on plantations or a house servant slave. Plantation workers usually were field hands. Many of them planted cotton or rice. Some plantation workers or outdoor workers also did jobs such as being a bricklayer, carpenter, blacksmith, dockworker, construction worker, office workers or a cabinetmaker. Some even worked in mines. House slaves usually did a variety of different jobs such as making dinner, doing the laundry, or simply doing any order that a slave owner requested. Since slaves were considered property, they did not have the same rights as free Americans. Many slaves were treated extremely poorly, although not all slave owners were cruel to their slaves. Some slave owners were fine with punishing their slaves. Harsh punishments included getting badly beaten, whipped, ducked under water, being sold away from your family, or even being branded.
 * Slavery - Captivity**

When times were hard, slaves many times liked to sing and create songs and tell stories. Some slaves liked to express themselves through art. Some even taught themselves to play instruments like the banjo or the violin. Many slaves tried to use religion to pass them by. Slave times were rough, and they did whatever they could to pass rough times by.

Resources http://library.thinkquest.org/5643/sppe.htm http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/slavery.htm