Under French rule (1699-1763), the German Coast soon became the main supplier of food to New Orleans produced by the settlers sided with their white indentured servants and African slaves just like in the early years of the French West Indian colony of Saint Domingue. The African slaves cleared the land and planted corn, rice, and vegetables. They built levees to protect dwellings and crops. They also served as sawyers, carpenters, masons, and smiths. They raised horses, oxen, mules, cows, sheep, swine, and poultry. Slaves also served as cooks, handling the demanding task of hulling rice with mortars and pestles. They performed all kinds of duties, working from sunup to sundown, to make life easy and enjoyable for their masters. African female slaves raised their own children while caring for their masters’ children. Slaves often escaped and became maroons in the swamps to avoid deadly work and whipping. Those recaptured suffered severe punishment such as branding with a hot iron, mutilation, and eventually the death penalty.