Task system

As injection system (Engl. Task system ) is in the history of the United States refers to a principle by which American planters in the 17th, 18th and 19th century, the work of their slaves organized. Slaves who worked under the task system had to do certain tasks or a defined amount of work per day, whereby it was mostly up to them to decide within which time they completed this work.

The task system is differentiated from the column system (English gang system ), in which the slaves were divided into smaller or larger units, had to work a certain number of hours and were monitored and driven by overseers or foremen.

distribution

The task system was particularly widespread on plantations where rice or long staple cotton was grown, in the warehouses of the ports and in activities that required a certain qualification.

Special features of the task system

The task system had certain advantages for the slaves; so they were less closely supervised and enjoyed more autonomy and free time than slaves who worked under the column system. After completing their assigned workload, they could use their time to meet their own needs. B. cultivate their own gardens and agricultural land.

Web links

All the web links listed are in English:

• Slavery fact sheets
• South Carolina - African-Americans - Brutal Work Regimes