Slaves In The 1700s

Indentured servants and slaves were treated in broadly similar ways. They were both brought to the New World in horrible conditions with many dying along the way. They were both subject to physical

The life of a slave was harsh to say the least. They worked long hours from dusk to dawn, most of them laboring in the hot southern cotton or tobacco fields. They were often separated from their family members and suffered harsh punishments when their masters felt they did wrong. But, after the Civil War ended, the slaves were left with hope that they would be free and have the same rights and opportunities that the white men had. Unfortunately, it would take decades for them to see true freedom.

A. Who was Thomas Paine? How did he get to America? What did he write during the Revolutionary War and What effect did it have on indivuals and future documents?

Slavery became an established activity in America by 1600’s. The slaves were mostly to provide free and cheap labor. Apart from America, slavery was practiced in other parts of the world throughout history, and in fact it can be traced back to the time of the ancient civilization. With industrial revolution especially with the rise of sugar plantations, the slaves were used to grow sugar in the periods from 1100. This intensified between 1400 and 1500 when Portugal and Spain ventured into sugar growing in the eastern Atlantic regions. The growth of the plantations required labor, hence African slaves were bought from Africa, to provide labor.

It was simply a low wage job, cleaning, cooking and beckoning to there owners needs. They owned there own property where there families live and attended the local churches every Sunday. With time they had freedom, agreements to be released from indentured servants and free with rights. Indentured servants were quite scarce and expensive and the issue of equal rights presented a major challenge to developing slave states like Virginia. Indentured servants slowly became life long servants, having no chance of release at a certain age. By 1660, laws were being enacted that defined the regulated slave relations. By 1680, slaves were chattel, nothing but property sold as commodities and traded. With slavery came

Before Thomas Paine became the author of the pamphlet Common Sense in 1776, and started a movement. Paine’s life before the colonies could be considered a failure on many accounts; one being he was unable to sustain a job and his family life was falling apart. Benjamin Franklin, one of Paine’s acquaintance, advised him to move to the Americas. Like the others this would be a fresh start for him. Right off the bat he was submerged into the world of politics as he became involved with the media, the tension between the colonies and Britain kept brewing. Common Sense by Thomas Paine, edited by Edward Larkin, emphasizes the personal and social responsibility that was needed to stand against Britain.

Paine represents the idea of no king is god, which he explains “That the king is not to trusted without being looked after…that the thirst for absolute power is the natural disease of monarchy” and also “there were no kings; the consequence of which was there were no wars; it is the pride of kings which throw mankind into confusion”. These are the things that the newly formed patriots were influence to provide a better government for themselves. There is John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government, Of the State of

Slaves went through a lot of struggle to try and get their freedom. They would rebel, runaway, commit acts of arson but in the end only a war could settle the disagreement of slavery between the North and South (2). The final battle for the end of slavery or the approval of slavery depended on the Civil war: the Union against the Confederates. However, what happened to slaves during the Civil war? Well slaves were permitted to take part in the war. Slaves fought in both sides, over 179,00 African Americans were part of the Civil war serving in over 160 units (3). Since the beginning of the war they weren’t really permitted to fight in the war, even though they had fought in wars before that one, because of the 1792 law that restricted them

Both indentured servants and slavery experience similar consequences if they were captured, but often than not, slaves were punished or prized more because a servant will one day be free but a slave is a property

Around the middle of the 1700s, a gathering of Jamaican slaves started touching base in Halifax. This gathering was named "Maroons", which implied outlaw slaves taking to the forested areas. (Pachai, Beneath the Clouds 2) The Maroons earned their name in light of the fact that they were a gathering of African plummet slaves in Jamaica who opposed the framework in that nation. Numerous Maroons settled in Preston and Guysborough.

In the years leading up to the revolutionary war, there was much conflict over the rights and wrongs of the British Empire towards the colonists. There were a few important factors and a few more minor factors that influenced patriots’ decisions to turn against their homeland and beloved monarch back in England. Thomas Paine’s childhood in England left a strong impact on him and influenced his mindset when he turned against the British. The unfairness of political and societal norms made him desire a new society that disregards social classes and allows more people to vote. Again, much of his decision to turn patriot, and his writings convincing most others to turn patriot was caused by life circumstances of being on the bottom rung of society and suffering the injustices of the government towards the common folk.

According to History for kids, “Slaves were not allowed to vote, hold a political office or claim any legal rights.” Even though all slaves at the time were unable to vote anywhere, it still did not give slaves many rights which is being treated unfairly. Also research from History for Kids, “ A slave could either be freed by his or her master in return of services rendered or he or she could buy their freedom from their own earnings.” Some slaves could be freed, but most slaves were poor, and their masters usually would not treat them

It all started in the 15th century, when the Portuguese began trading for slaves from West Africa. They used these slaves to work sugar plantations on the Madiera and Azores islands off the African coast. Because using slave labor to produce sugar was profitable, Europeans decided to adapt slavery in the newly established American colonies (Newman, John J. 6). When European settlers began staking claim on American land, they hit one major bump in the road. All of these rich wealthy elites that were able to afford the journey over did not know one thing about manual labor. They enslaved Native Americans, and used the indentured servant system, a method of bringing lower class immigrants to the colonies and requiring them to work as servants for a certain amount of time, but eventually mercantilism exploded in the colonies and the settlers had to turn to different ways. Slavery began to grow in the colonies in the early 18th century. According to the AMSCO Advanced Placement preparation textbook, “By 1750, half of Virginia’s population and two-thirds of South Carolina’s population were enslaved.”

During the 18th century, slavery continued to develop in America. The Legal Code was refined by many colonies when it was established in the 17th century in order to regulate slavery. This issue became a principal source of labor in the Southern colonies. There was no accuracy of the number of Africans transported to the New World. The first prominent slave rebillion was called The Stono River Rebillion in 1739. It took place in South Carolina during the harvest time when the supervisors pushed the slaves to work harder (Horton, 2004, p.254).

One of the most fundamental people in the push for American Independence, Thomas Paine offers much advice in both Common Sense, and The Crisis. Paine offers very strong arguments in Common Sense, which are supported by his own reason, his sensibility, his common sense and by his ability to draw inference from what has already happened. Paine uses every element in his ability to help give more depth to his arguments and plans. However, of all the cases Thomas Paine makes in Common Sense, the ultimate goal of Paine is to incite the American Public to make a stand against British tyranny, and break from Britain altogether, and become independent.