In the years following the 1830s, the amount of slaves in the U.S slowly increased from 1.2 million to 2 million.Slaves either worked rurally on plantations, or worked urbanly, on ships and mills.
Rural: The slaves toiled in the fields for over 20 hours at a time, with little food, water, and sleep.
Urban: Some slaves were kept for domestic use (working in homes), or were used to manufacture products in mills. Also, some slaves were used to transport goods on ships.

Life Under Slavery