Ages in Which Children Were Required to Work Varied
Children were required to begin working in the fields at different ages, depending on the plantation.
Forty-eight percent of interviewees in the Slave Narrative Collection recalled being put to work before the age of 7. Before puberty, the tasks given to children did not appear to be gender specific. Most children were required to take water to the fields, tend to the animals and care for younger children, among other duties, according to The National Archives.
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