What conditons did the slaves work in?

Answer 1

It varied widely. You have to remember that the number of slaves held by whites in the Americas - although large - was only a fraction of all the slaves held in Africa by other Africans and of the slaves held in South East Asia and the Arabic countries. In many of those countries up to a third of the whole population consisted of slaves.
Generally speaking the slaves working the fields got the short end of the stick almost everywhere. The many stories of cruelties to them were in itself often true, but slaves were an investment and most masters were smart enough not to kill them or make them in any way unfit for work. So the idea that many or most of them were regularly belabored with whips is incorrect. They had to work hard and many died, mostly of diseases, but in general and even if only out of self-interest by their masters, they were treated, housed and fed in a way to keep them in good condition for work.

The 'house slaves' often lived in better conditions and were of course spared the hard outdoor work. But the closer contact with the master's wife and family also could sometimes mean that they became the butt of their moods, petty cruelties or unreasonable (or sexual) demands.

A - small - top layer of slaves could make themselves indispensable to their masters by managing, accounting or other skills. They could sometimes even rise to positions of power and/or trust and then could become respected community members.

Answer 2

The very fact that a person is a slave makes their condition one of property. They are owned by another human, so the living conditions is minor to the fact of their human condition. Most slaves lived in a one room cabin with dirt floors and a straw bed. They were given a pair of pants and a shirt if male and a shift if s woman. No shoes for either. They could not speak their own native languages, practice their native religions, and were given a name other than the ones they were born with. House slaves may have had it a bit better than field slaves depending on who owned them. Families were often split apart and children sold away from parents by the time they were 2 years old. A good book of this is TO BE A SLAVE. The book was done in the 1930's from interviews with former slaves so it is actual accounts from people who were slaves.