Black field hands had it way easier than the cheap white labor in the north.
Irishmen worked 12+ hours a day, 6 days a week, all year with a seldom unpaid holiday thrown into the mix. They lived in very small dwellings and could barely afford to feed their families. They were essentially enslaved, because work was hard to come by since immigrants were flooding every major yankee city. These men worked in very horrible conditions, were whipped on occasion and had very little to live for.
The blacks on the other hand worked outside in the sun. Maybe they worked sun up to sun down... during farming season. Wtf do you do with 50 negro slaves the other 5 months of the year when nothing is growing, make them run laps around the farm? People image these wretched poor downtrodden negros picking cotton every day, all day, all year.. No, that happened like one month out of the year. 6 other months were assisting the house niggers who worked the horse drawn plow then weeding the field. Then there wasn't shit for them to do for the next 5 months. Unlike the whites in the north, they were still fed and sheltered.
These motherfuckers lived in paradise compared to our ancestors who were enslaved by the capitalists and their vile industry.
If there ain't snow on the ground, the south is growing. 10 farming months essentially, of course you have to choose the right crops for the season.
You don't run out of work on a farm. If you can't grow, break dirt. If the earth's frozen, build something.