> Historically agricultural workers were slaves or at best serfs. This was certainly common, but e.g. England hasn't really had serfdom for 5 centuries (after

> Historically agricultural workers were slaves or at best serfs. This was certainly common, but e.g. England hasn't really had serfdom for 5 centuries (after a gradual decline). Quite a lot of the labor was hired servants, perhaps a majority, although (IIRC) the median servant worked alongside only one or two others. So not family, but still a lot of family-sized groups.