As under slavery, most rural blacks worked on land owned by whites. But they now exercised control over their personal lives, could come and go as they pleased, and determined which members of the family worked in the fields.
This passage shows that while formerly enslaved people gained personal freedom, economic freedom was still limited. Even though they had more control over their daily lives and family decisions, many Black workers remained tied to white landowners, showing how freedom after slavery was partial and uneven.