Looking Out for Number One T.H. Breen

In his book Forced Founders – Indians, Debtors, Slaves and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia Woody Holton tries to give a "… study of some (not all) of the causes (not the effects) of Virginia's Revolution." He argues that the Virginia elite were important as leaders of the Independence movement, but were also powerfully influenced by other forces such as British merchants, Indians, farmers and slaves. Woody Holton argues that the Virginia gentry was influenced by those four groups, and that the gentry was even

In 1705, Virginia law began to define more clearly the status of slaves as property. Slaves could be used both as collateral for borrowing money and as assets in the payment of debts. (Goldenburg 3)

Your textbook (and most short accounts) depict the war as Indians against English colonists; how is that depiction accurate, and why or why not?

Harris, Leslie M. In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863.

There has been many historians and theorists who have tackled colonial slavery. One of them is Ira Berlin whose book Many Thousands Gone is his take on slavery diversity in American history and how slavery is at the epicenter of economic production, amongst other things. He separates the book into three generations: charter, plantation and revolutionary, across four geographic areas: Chesapeake, New England, the Lower country and the lower Mississippi valley. In this paper, I will discuss the differences between the charter and plantation generations, the changes in work and living conditions, resistance, free blacks and changes in manumission.

Document F states, “The worst [among us were the gold seekers who] with their golden promises made all men their slaves in hope of recompenses.” This quote displays the major motive of emigrants to the Chesapeake region as gold seekers, or monetary prosperity. Documents G and H show that there were many indentured servants in the Chesapeake area. These indentured servants were often used for the tobacco farms. Since the soil was infertile in New England, the colonists there often focused on trade, small scale manufacturing, fishing, and other sea industries. The economy of each region impacted its social structure, which many indentured servants and slaves in the Chesapeake region while there was much more equality in New England.

While the first two sections of the book provide the historical context of the settling of the Virginia colony, the last two demonstrate Morgan’s theory of how racism was developed to ensure a sustainable workforce. The rise of the labor theory demonstrates how slavery itself became a necessary business venture in Virginia while at the same time justified the Revolutionary concepts of liberty and equality for all white men. The belief that only the men, or white Englishmen

Slavery and indentured servitude was the backbone of the Virginia economy. Slaves were considered an investment in the planter’s business and a necessity for success. The treatment of slaves was much the same as owning a piece of property or equipment. Slaves were not viewed as fellow human beings, quite the opposite they were of lesser status. Slaves and indentured servants grew tired of their treatment and responded with acts of rebellion. One such act was for the slaves and servants to run away. Indentured servants and slaves both made the incredibly brave decision to risk fleeing and capture in the hope of finding a free and better life, as opposed to continue living in their oppressed conditions. Runaway slave advertisements became

Document F states, "The worst [among us were the gold seekers who] with their golden promises made all men their slaves in hope of recompenses." This quote displays the major motive of emigrants to the Chesapeake region as gold seekers, or monetary prosperity. Documents G and H show that there were many indentured servants in the Chesapeake area. These indentured servants were often used for the tobacco farms. Since the soil was infertile in New England, the colonists there often focused on trade, small scale manufacturing, fishing, and other sea industries. The economy of each region impacted its social structure, which many indentured servants and slaves in the Chesapeake region while there was much more equality in New England.

Breen and Innes do a great job suggesting that a person’s conduct, not necessarily their race, played the major role in early Virginia. They make an inadvertent argument that dominance and submission were the real issue when it came to owning property at the time, not race. The large plantation owners intimidated the smaller farmers and landowners. Blacks were on the same playing field when compared along with the small farmers and landowners. Sadly, this did not last with the entrance of racial mindsets as aforementioned. There is also an argument that even though the hardest working blacks could work their way out of slavery and into freedom, they could maintain the wealth it took to perpetuate that freedom. The growing plantation system and the growing black population is what brought an end to the equal status of the free, black

One of the things that really shaped the way that Virginia is today was the high death rate. It was not only tobacco that made men wealthy either. In Virginia whenever someone died, if that person was married they would inherit all of their former partners land and belongings. Many times this would be the man that would die, and would leave a wealthy widow in his place. Men in Virginia sought these widows like pure gold themselves; if they married these women then they would inherit all that they had acquired from their previous husbands. Therefore any man could become wealthy by just marrying a wealthy widow. Morgan states that the Virginian society was on its way to becoming,” an economic matriarchy, or rather a widowarchy” (166). For many men however it was very slim that they would be able to marry due to their current roles as servants. Even when given freedom these men were not able to settle into a home or piece of land due to the harsh conditions they would have to try and live in after. At the same time the wealthy men were able to marry rich women, live life to the fullest, and milk the government policies for all the money that it was worth.

The similarity of his history with that of white servants of the time seems to be that while he started out in Virginia as a servant, or slave, he had worked his way up to freedom, had a family and established himself as a trustworthy land owner over the years. These too were some of the values he shared with his white neighbors. Having a family, a farm, and freedom. He was also trusted by the white people enough to be allowed to testify in an issue involving white men, and his wife and daughters were excused from paying taxes. At the time that would have classified them as equals to the white women.

Bacon’s Rebellion made a huge impact on the people of Virginia which changed the people’s views and also the society. Before Bacon’s Rebellion

New York City started helping African Americans escape slavery as soon as the Revolution War ended. New York city’s elites began to take action in helping the African Americans by founding the Manumission Society. The Manumission Society was “the first organized efforts to abolish slavery” (Foner, 2015, p. 40). The Manumission Society was full of “prominent patriots” (Foner, 2015, p.41) who help aided the blacks from a political aspect. The Society helped defend black legal rights and helped pass a law “barring the removal of slaves from New York State” (Foner, 2015, p. 42). When the Manumission Society came to an end in the middle of the 19th century, the elites within the society made great strides politically in helping black regain and

In American history, every event and person plays a part in the future. For example, rich plantation owners helped America advance their economy. However, that would not have been at all possible without the help of their slaves. The time and institution of slavery is a time of historical remembrance. It played a primary role during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The treatment, labor conditions, and personal stories of these slaves’ treatment and labor conditions are all widely discussed around the world to this day.