<Dl> <Dd>--one overseer's method of controlling slaves, reported by fugitive slave Charles Ball </Dd> </Dl> <Dd>--one overseer's method of controlling slaves, reported by fugitive slave Charles Ball </Dd> <P> Most plantations were run on the task system, where a slave was given one or more tasks, estimated at ten hours' hard work, each day . After they had finished the tasks to the overseer's satisfaction, they could spend the remainder of the day as they chose, often on growing their food, spinning, sewing their clothes, or building their houses (slaves were typically supplied with nails and five yards of cloth per year). The task system, and the unwillingness of free people to live in rice - growing areas, may have led to the greater survival of African culture among the Gullah . </P> <P> In the country's early years, rice production was limited to the South Atlantic and Gulf states . For almost the first 190 years of rice production in the US, the principal producers were South Carolina and Georgia . Limited amounts were grown in North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana . </P>

Where is the most rice grown in the world