Colonial African American LIfe

There was slavery in every colony in the 1800s.
At the dawn of the American Revolution, 20 percent of the population in the thirteen colonies was of African descent. Most blacks lived in the Chesapeake region, where they made up more than 50 to 60 percent of the overall population.
The majority of blacks living in the Chesapeake worked on tobacco plantations and large farms. Since the cultivation of tobacco was extremely labor-intensive, African slave labor was used, despite questions of whether slavery was morally right.
For slaves working on farms, the work was a little less tedious than tobacco cultivation, but no less demanding. Despite the difficult labor, there were some minor advantages to working on a plantation or farm compared to working in an urban setting or household. Generally, slaves on plantations lived in complete family units, their work dictated by the rising and setting of the sun, and they generally had Sundays off. The disadvantages, however, were stark. Plantation slaves were more likely to be sold or transferred than those in a domestic setting. They were also subject to brutal and severe punishments, because they were regarded as less valuable than household or urban slaves.
Regardless of a slave's occupation, there was considerable fear and angst caused by an environment of constant uncertainty and threats of violence and abuse.