Some points from Robert William Fogel, "The Slavery Debates, 1952-1990"
specifically about gang labor by slaves: 

"research disclosed that slaves working under the gang system produced as
much output in 35 minutes as farmers -- white or black -- produced in an
hour when working in the traditional way." (P. 27) 

P. 33: "As it turned out, free northern farmers worked about 10 percent more
hours than southern slaves, not fewer hours as had been hypothesized...  It
soon became evident that the greater intensity of work per hour, rather than
more hours of labor per day or more days of labor per year, was the
principal form of the exploitation of slave labor.  The gang system played a
role comparable to the factory system or, at a later date, the assembly
line, in regulating the pace of labor.  It was, in other words, in early
device for speeding up labor."

You will probably want to look at Fogel's notes for his sources on these
statements.

Henry Wiencek

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