Sugar refining ran around the clock, driving workers past exhaustion

Evidence

To achieve the highest efficiency, sugar houses operated night and day. “On cane plantations in sugar time, there is no distinction as to the days of the week,” Northup wrote. Fatigue might mean losing an arm to the grinding rollers or being flayed for failing to keep up. Enslavers often met resistance with sadistic cruelty. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 298