Answer:
The answer is D: as artisans or dockhands.
Enslaved people in the New England colonies were more likely to work as skilled laborers, artisans or dockworkers rather than on large plantations like in the Southern colonies. Some key details:
• Slavery in New England centered more around towns and ports than plantations, which were less common in the region. Enslaved people primarily worked in urban occupations.
• Many enslaved people in New England were trained and hired out as skilled artisans like blacksmiths, tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, barbers and more. They provided these services for both white and black clients.
• Enslaved workers were also often employed at the docks and wharves in New England ports loading and unloading cargo from ships. This was physically demanding work.
• There were fewer extensive slave codes passed in the New England colonies compared to the South. Slavery operated on a smaller scale in the North.
• Plantation agriculture requiring large gangs of slave laborers was less prevalent in New England due to the harsher climate and shorter growing seasons.
So in summary, enslaved people in Northern colonies like New England were more likely to work as skilled artisans or dockhands rather than in plantation field labor as was common in the South. The nature of slavery differed between the regions.