An overview of how America's "peculiar institution" functioned north of the Mason-Dixon line. Unlike in the South, where slaves were employed largely in agricultural labor, the North trained its slave force to meet the needs of a mixed economy, and from the 17th century on, slaves could be found working as farmers, carpenters, shipwrights, sailmakers, printers, tailors, blacksmiths, weavers, and other jobs. The study describes the lives and working conditions of the slaves, how they themselves influenced the operation of the system, and how black resistance to bondage ultimately undermined economic efficiency and turned the racial hegemony of whites into a regime of mutual fear and distrust.