At the same time, Europeans also went to Africa to buy people. These people were then shipped to North and South America. they became slaves-people without freedom-who had to work for no money and do what they were told. They had to work very hard on the coffee, tobacco, cotton, and sugar plantations. Some worked in white people is houses, where they cooked, cleaned, and took care of children. The slaves did not go to school, so most of them could not read or write. Their lives were very hard.