Origin Of Slavery Research Paper

Slavery dates back to the seventeenth century, when they were brought by ship from Africa to America. Plantation owners has indentured servants from Europe, who was serving time for their actions, and slaves from Africa. There was a prevalent development of degrading treatment towards African slaves and the institution of slavery as a whole in the time period of 1607- 1750 in Virginia which can be seen by slaves getting taken advantage of, children being taken away or runaway ads and also not receiving the same basic human rights as other individuals .

Other Europeans, Native Americans and West Africans were the groups thought to be most suitable for the economic demand of labor. Many of the early views of West Africans were received through the bible until written accounts of encounters with these people were made. These written accounts of the encounters of West Africans led to the idea West Africans could be brought over and sold in the Americas to work in chattel slavery. This in turn made them the ultimate choice for the labor force of the English. However the famous sale of twenty Africans to the colonists at Jamestown in 1619 by Dutch slave traders did not equate to the introduction of chattel slavery just yet. Many early African slaves were treated similarly to indentured servants brought in from England. They could work the land for a set number of years then after their term was up be freed and given a piece of land. Indentured servitude was not hereditary but their contract could be sold, bartered, given away or gambled away. These contracts gave away the servant’s labor but it did not give away the servant’s person. Despite this African presence, slavery was slow to arrive in Virginia because the mortality rate for indentured servants was so high during the first decades of the Virginia colony. Indentured servitude remained the primary source of labor in Virginia through the 1680s, until economic considerations made slaves the cheaper alternative.

At first Africans were not slaves but servants. Anthony Johnson is an example of African servant who acquired lands and servants (even white servants) after he managed to become free. Due to development of famers in America tobacco in particular settlers needed more labors, and since lands were limited and most of former indentured servants were not able to receive a land, so they were did not want to go back to work, settlers saw African as a good opportunity for cheap labors. Since Africans were not England citizen, they had no rights to claims, as a result, settlers were able to work them for their whole life. Slavery became profitable especially in Virginia, soon rules were made to make slavery legal, and took away any rights that slaves had. Based on the documentary, for a Virginia plantation it was more profitable to work a slave to death and buy a new slave than let slaves to work in a humane condition. Another reason for development of racial slavery was Englishmen projected slaves as aliens and inferior, as Blight stated “as an outsider”, in different factors such as: color, religion, and

“Virginia Laws Governing Servant and Slave” reveals the rebellions of servants and slaves who united to fight against their masters. Bacon’s Rebellion, in 1676, occurred in the Virginia Colony in opposition to Virginia's Indian policy (Roark, The American Promise, p. 79). Bacon’s Rebellion demonstrated that poor whites and poor blacks could be united in a cause, and it shows that they are capable of challenging the ruling class together. Virginia lawmakers enacted the laws to prevent the servants and slaves from uniting to fight against masters. According to "Document 2: Law Making Slave Status Inherited from Mother, 1662" the Virginia legislators punished interracial sexual relations, "And that if any Christian shall commit fornication with a negro man or woman, hee or shee soe offending shall pay double the ffines imposed by the former act"

In the reading of the “Origin of Negro Slavery” by Eric Williams he argues that there were multiple factors behind Negro slavery. The power of the Roman Catholic Church, in conspiracy with the powerful European Kingdoms of Spain, Portugal, and eventually Britain and France, allowed the practice of slavery. Since African Negroes were not of Christian faith, they were seen as infidels by the Catholic Church along with Muslims and Pagans. Williams professes that economic capitalization and the religious precept helped in sustaining slavery.

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

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

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

The cause for this shift in social policy cannot be accurately traced through the events of the 17th century, but several clues to this alteration in slave treatment can be found. It is often presumed that racism led to the inevitable slavery acts in the 18th century, but this rationale is rather unfounded based on the idea that many African-Americans were in fact free and maintained their own farms in Virginia. The cause of slavery is much more subtle than a prejudice view of racial differences.

it was declared in Virginia that it would not be a crime to kill a disobedient slave while punishing him/her. Moreover in 1669, slave masters were banned from emancipating slaves. Slaves that were given their freedom could not stay in the colony. Furthermore, Virginia voted to banish Europeans who marry a black, mulatto, or Indian person. It can be concluded that these laws fashioned the chattel slavery in the United States

In the Chesapeake region, people came over for a very different reason. The people living here were in search of gold so they could become rich. Shown in the list of emigrants bound for Virginia (Document C), mostly men came over that were relatively young in age. Since there were not many women, societies were not as family oriented like those in New England. This area developed into a more business related area. Many indentured servants were brought over because of the Head right system. This system granted the landowner 50 acres for every indentured servant he brought over. The indentured servants were used to grow tobacco on the fields of the wealthy landowners. These indentured servants also helped to shape the society in the Chesapeake area. As the black slaves were introduced, segregation became very strong to separate the blacks from indentured servants. The more economic oriented Chesapeake developed differently from the more family oriented New England area because of the settler’s reasons for coming to America.

Race grants whites and prohibits African American regardless of wealth. There are not enough people to help grow and harvest Tobacco crops money on someone who is going to die. In the 1600s the colonial Virginia population rapidly increased and they force English men to be the workforce of the lower

The Chesapeake region developed an agricultural system that revolved around tobacco by the mid-17th century. Tobacco even functioned as a source of currency in the Chesapeake region when a slave named Francis Payne was valued at 2,400 pounds of tobacco when his owner died (Franklin & Higginbotham, 51). Since tobacco cultivation required intense labor, colonists actively looked for sources of labor. At first, Chesapeake planters hired white indentured servants–men and women from Europe who sold their labor for a certain amount of years in return for freedom–as the source of labor to harvest tobacco (Franklin & Higginbotham, 51). Indentured servitude

This proved to be a very profitable crop for them, but it was also their main source of income and they relied heavily on it. Virginia had a lot of slaves, at first mostly white indentured servants who helped in the tobacco fields. However, later Virginia became a true slave society with slaves from Africa. White male landowners held most of the power. These white men controlled the government and belonged to the Church of England.

During the development of the colonies and the nation as a whole, slaves were utilized in order to produce the crops and perform laborious tasks that were “below” white people. In the 1660s, there was an increased demand for tobacco products as well as indigo and rice in England (“African American Slavery in the Colonial Era, 1619-1775”). In order to fulfill the demand, there was a spike in interest in purchasing slaves. More and more slaves were needed to produce larger amounts of crops for the plantation owners.