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The task system is a system of labor under slavery characteristic in the Americas. It is usually regarded as less brutal than other forms of slave labor. The other form, known as the gang system, was harsher. Under this system, each slave is assigned a specific task to complete for the day. After that task is finished, the slave is then free to do as he or she wishes with the remaining time. The gang systems forced the slaves to work until the owner said they were finished and allowed them almost no freedom. Whether plantation owners organized their slaves on the task or gang system had much to do with the type of crops they harvested. Tobacco and sugar cultivation was organized into gangs since those crops required considerable processing and supervision. Coffee, rice, and pimento were comparatively hardier plants where extensive supervision was unnecessary, leading planters to favor the task system on their plantations.