Shymiak Johnson
Intro to African American History
Monday 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm
HIST 221 ADC2
Professor Pate
Overview: To see the differences and similarities in how slaves were treated in the Chesapeake, Low Country ( South Carolina), and Northern Colony regions.
Intro: During 18th century slavery, three regions of the country had slight to very different lifestyles as well as small to very common similarities. Slavery during the 18th century influenced how slavery went forth for the next century and a half. In this essay I will compare and contrast 18th century slavery in the Chesapeake, Low Country (South Carolina and Georgia), and the Northern colonies. 1. Chesapeake Region a. The early years of slavery in the
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Although the slaves had this independence, the white people still had a “Negro Watch” to enforce curfew on the black people there.
3. Northern Colonies k. The Northern colony slaves were perhaps the least like slaves of the three regions. One of the main differences was organized religion. There was also the fact that during the 18th century there slave population in the Northern Colonies was a mere 4.5% compared to the 40% and higher in the south. Slavery was less oppressive due to the Puritan religious principles of the Northern region. l. The slaves lived in the house with their master and his family. The slaves also worked along side the master, his family, and the other slaves on the small farms. Most had two slaves per household on the rare occasion there some estates that had 50 or 60. m. Slaves in the Northern colonies were allowed to become Artisans, Shopkeepers, Messengers, Domestic Servants, and General Laborers. New England slaves had a huge advantage over slaves in the other regions they could legally own, transfer, and inherit property. They also had the least opportunity to preserve their African heritage because of their easier conditions. They also had the highest amount of mulattoes.
4. The commonality between Chesapeake, Low Country, and the Northern Colonies is the fact that no matter what slaves were still deemed less than whites. They still had to abide by the
The first African Americans that were put to work in Jamestown were not treated in the way that people traditionally think of early slavery. In fact they were treated just as the indentured servants that had come from England were treated. This does not mean that they were treated with any sympathy or given easy work, but that they just were not discriminated by the color of their skin. In the beginning of the 1600s all servants had the same dream, to one day be free. In 1641, a black slave by the name of Anthony Johnson, was freed and given his own land to start his new life as an American (Johnson et al, Africans, 39). At this point in time the only things that separated people were if you were an owner or a servant and if you were a Christian or not. At some point in the mid 1700s something changed the way that the colonists saw things. All of a sudden there was no longer equal treatment of white and black slaves, the darker the color of ones skin was the worse off their life became. In 1640, three slaves tried escaping to Maryland but were unsuccessful, when they were brought upon the court two of the
To sum it all up, the northern and southern colonies were as different as day and night. They were colonized for different reason. Also they had a very diverse climate. Their pattern of trade was
One might think that all of the British colonies in the new world were all the same. This is not the case though. The colonies, although they were all British they had some similarities but mainly they had differences. The Southern, New England and Middle colonies clearly show theses similarities and differences, particularly in terms of land, labor, religion, and native relations.
The three colonies all had comparable similarities, as they were all democratic. But they ran their democratic government differently. For instance the New England Colonies was a Theocracy, which meant that the church controlled the government. The Middle Colonies had their church and government separate. The Southern Colonies were the most inequitable as they were an Oligarchy. This meant
T.H. Breen's and Stephen Innes’s book "Myne Owne Ground" does and outstanding job of pointing out the difference in perspectives when it came to living in the south and being black was like. It goes in depth and shows how a black person was competent and was capable to acquire a wealth that was comparable to a wealthy white man, but it is never recognized by the general white population. The authors make an argument that in early colonial Virginia blacks that owned property were able to live semi-normal, if not prosperous, racism free lives. Breen and Innes argue that before the Virginia slave codes were passed, property owning blacks had a chance to be viewed as
To start it off they were located on opposite sides so they had different climates, the New England Colony was located in the North so there was stronger and longer winters while in the Southern Colonies, which was located in the south, so it was hotter and it was practically warm all year round. That led to different agricultural needs, the southern colony was huge on agriculture because they had fertile soil so they produced a lot of cash crops and were know for the tobacco, produced and exported by John Rolfe. Since the New England Colonies didn’t have much use for agriculture because they lacked good soil so there wasn’t many crops, they mostly fished, build ships, and traded mostly with fur. That leads to slavery, since the southern plantations required a lot of work there was a lot more slaves in the south then the north. Southern Colonies had the largest slave population who worked on the Slave Plantations, which grew cotton, tobacco, indigo (a purple dye), and other crops. Also religion was very different, the New England Colonies were strictly Puritans and didn’t tolerate other religions; while the Southern colonies were not dominated by a single religion they were mostly predominantly Anglicans and
In the time period between 1775 and 1830, African Americans start to gain more freedom in the North while the institution of slavery expanded in the South. These changes occurred due to the existence of different point of views. The North did not need slavery and acknowledge the cons of slavery while the South’s want for slavery quickly became a need.
Both the New England colonies and the Southern colonies seemed as though they might be the same. They both started out with the majority of people being from England, they were both in the New World, and they were both ruled by England but, as time went on this theory was proven wrong. The New England colonies and the Southern colonies had many common characteristics but these two regions were very different geographically, politically, and socially.
Economically, slavery allowed for an increased source of income that indentured servitude could not compete with. Shortly following the founding of Jamestown, indentured servants paid their way to the colonies with the promise of a designated time of labor upon arrival.
Slavery was probably the most influential factor in the developing differences between the two cultures. Southern cultures developed a farm economy that could not survive without slave labor. Slave owners often became leaders in there communities. They were members in their local governments. Laws were made that prevented slaves from marrying, own property, or earn their freedom. These laws also did not allow slaves to be educated. Because all the hard work was done by the slaves, the slave owners had time and the education to greatly influence political life in southern colonies. Slavery did not become a force in the northern colonies because of different economical reasons. The cold weather and poor soil did not support the farm economy that the south had. This resulted in the northern colonies to depend on an economy that included manufacturing and trade.
“It was otherwise in the Chesapeake, the colonies of Virginia and Maryland. There, the legal institution of slavery grew out of economic opportunism and evolving social custom.” However, racism was involved as well in these areas. The British North Americans again resorted to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, bringing in the labourers necessary to grow their crops; no matter how inhumane. “Economic need drove the tobacco planters to import large numbers of enslaved Africans in the late seventeenth century.” Working on these plantations was not an easy life, and the travelling conditions that these people went through were
Meanwhile, in the south, Free blacks were still at risk and lived under the shadow of slavery.Free blacks were at risk of being captured and sold as a slave to wealthy plantation owners. Their
Slave as defined by the dictionary means that a slave is a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another; a bond servant. So why is it that every time you go and visit a historical place like the Hampton-Preston mansion in Columbia South Carolina, the Lowell Factory where the mill girls work in Massachusetts or the Old town of Williamsburg Virginia they only talk about the good things that happened at these place, like such things as who owned them, who worked them, how they were financed and what life was like for the owners. They never talk about the background information of the lower level people like the slaves or servants who helped take care and run these places behind the scenes.
Whether the laws were different or prices of crops and medicines. The price of taxes from tea or the stamp tax all the colonies have different ways of living and surviving. Maybe in some colonies people don’t have as much food so food might be rashed differently or maybe it’s money. All the colonies have a different reason for being there own. A large middle class consisted mainly of farmers who owned their land, shopkeepers, and craftworkers. Unskilled workers and farmers who rented their land ranked among the poor, or "lower sort." In addition, by the mid-1700’s, about 20 percent of the colonists were slaves of African descent. Slaves lived in all the mainland colonies, though they were most in the South (Virginia). Despite all the differences all the colonies had one thing in common they were all ruled by King George. All the colonies had something
Slavery, in the South and as well in the North, played a huge role of the culture of their societies. The North had a general belief in abolitionism, while the South opposed that idea. All the economic reasons led to the cultural differences. The South viewed slavery as a necessity to their economy. The North believed it was wrong to own a human being. The South contradicted this idea with the North’s use of cheap labor in its factories.