The Labor Of War And Early British America

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.

The introduction of Africans to America in 1619 set off an irreversible chain of events that effected the economy of the southern colonies. With a switch from the expensive system of indentured servitude, slavery emerged and grew rapidly for various reasons, consisting of economic, geographic, and social factors. The expansion of slavery in the southern colonies, from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to just before America gained its independence in 1775, had a lasting impact on the development of our nation’s economy, due to the fact that slaves were easy to obtain, provided a life-long workforce, and were a different race than the colonists, making it easier to justify the immoral act.

The institution of enslaved people was first introduced in America during the first settlers in what was considered the colonies. The early forms of labor forces were both the indentured servants and African slaves. There was a need for labor because early settlers began to make their mark on the new land by profiting on a new found crash crop tobacco. The

The earliest form of slavery in North America can be traced back to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. There, they were called the “Twenty and Odd” and considered servants rather than slaves. Though little is known about this infamous event, this ‘trade’ continued of capturing Africans from Africa and bringing them to the colonies of Britain. The usage of slaves increased and were often used as field laborers on plantations, house workers, blacksmiths

Tobacco farming required much labor, and colonial America could not supply that labor with just the settlers already living there. This need for labor was satisfied by indentured servants and African slaves (3). Indentured servants raised the population by bringing in people who could not afford their way over to America (Weeks 1). The indentured servants were promised freedom and land after serving for a set amount of years (Pecquet 469). Soon after, as the indentured servants were getting less and less land than promised, if any at all, Bacon's Rebellion broke out in Virginia (Lorenz 14). This forced the colonists to find a different servitude option. They turned to African slavery to quench their desire for a cheap, reliable labor source (Weeks 1). At least 350,000 Africans were needed to produce the amount of tobacco to supply for the demands of the people (1). African slavery started racial tensions and

Tobacco was the first profitable crop in the new colony, and it encouraged tobacco planters to move farther and farther into the inland, intruding more and more into the native farmlands. (Brinkley, pg. 29) Tobacco created a great need for laborers. New workers to the colony were offered land, depending on the size of their family. This was the beginning of the concept of plantations. In 1619, 100 women were sent to the colony to become wives of the male settlers. This “promised the male colonists the full rights of Englishmen, an end to strict and arbitrary rule, and even a share in self-government. (Brinkley, pg. 29) July 30, 1619 the first elected legislature, the House of Burgesses was created. Also in 1619, a Dutch ship brought over the first shipment of African slaves. The slaves were forced into ships, shackled in the bottom of the ship, barely fed and were brought to Virginia. If a slave died during the voyage, their body was thrown overboard. “From mid-1670 to 1700, Virginia and Maryland imported about 6,000 slaves direct from Africa, most arriving the 1690’s.”(Morgan)

The first twenty Africans to arrive in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 were eventually traded by the Dutch for food and supplies. A point worth noting, the first twenty Africans were not identified as legal property(slave). The former Spanish owners had baptized and given each a Christian name. In fact, Africans worked as indentured servants for a specified time because English law disallowed the enslaving of Christians. Africans became landowners and were of equal standing with the poor English Pilgrims. However, by 1640, Virginia court documents started displaying verdicts for a life of servitude. These were verdicts given to runaway indentured servants. African indentured servants to be exact. Between 1661 and 1662, a child’s status in the colonial United States depended on whether the mother was free or a slave.

In about 1613, the South’s crop was tobacco. (Morrison 52) Tabaco was a great crop and made the plantation owner lots of money with slave labor. The slaves were was not allowed education or good working conditions. Some of them were taught to cook, carpentry, but most were agriculture workers. The slaves were a possession, of the Plantation owner, like land, a house, a dog, or a horse. At first, they chose Indentured servants, who were poor whites who could not afford to be on their own. They worked for the Plantation for a number of years and then got their freedom. Usually the indentured servant was still poor after they were set free. He usually was not paid for any of his services. Nevertheless, the plantation owners needed a lot more slaves than poor whites. Therefore, they picked the American Indian to be slaves, and they were not good workers. They were always getting sick and dying from small pox or other diseases brought over by the Europeans. The American Indians were not large by body size, and did not work well under all that heat. They knew the land, so they just ran away and went back to their tribe. When this did not work out the Southerner has, started getting their slaves from the Dutch. These were slaves from the West Indies and Africa. These Negro slaves were larger than the American Indian and were immune to Malaria and small pox. This new slave was a good match for the southern climate and with the invention of the

1619, the landing of the first group of blacks in Jamestown, Virginia. Having a work span of life rather than the typical 4-6 years of an indentured servant: The growing demand for Africans would lead to the economic success of the 13 colonies especially the south. Free and enslaved blacks lived in the countryside planting and tending to the crops. The American Revolution a conflict over the issues of economic freedom and representation would set a spark within the African community over which side to join in the conflict. The idea of being “pro-black” , an ideology described as thinking of the best benefits for yourself and your people was used as guiding hand in helping enslaved and free Africans choose a side to join. The factors that led

Farmers and masters of indentured servants began moving away from indentured servitude and towards slavery after the first African slaves were brought to Virginia in 1619. The increasing demand for tobacco and indigo also prompted a need for labor, and the African slaves were an even easier method of labor for masters than indentured servants. Servants were also becoming more expensive. As the demand for servants went up their terms got shorter and their contracts became less and less favorable for their masters. In addition to this, the number of indentured servants had fell in the 1660s due to a decrease in the English birthrate and a subsequent rise in English wages.

For 100 years, blacks have been marked as slaves because of their skin tone. Because of this, no one was shocked by the color of the skin of the 20 slaves that a ship from Jamestown was carrying for sell. Slavery became the norm and out of this widespread imprisonment feelings of tensions arose between the races. Throughout 1909-10 many settlers died from starvation in Virginia and the few survivors were still alive during 1619. In Virginia in 1619, laborers were needed to cultivate corn and tobacco for profit and survival. There was not enough white servants nor people willingly to work the land. The Indians were on home territory and stronger than the whites. Blacks, already seen as slaves, were then chosen. Once slaves were taken, they

In 1607 Jamestown was founded after a successful colonization the settlers begin to grow tobacco but realized it was too hard to do alone. 12 years later the first shipment of slaves were introduced to what later be called the United States. The slaves who came during this area were known as the Charter Generation slaves and were used mainly for tobacco a major cash crop at this time. While they did have slave’s, some very rich colonist who had the money paid for poorer individuals to start fresh. This was called the Headright system, in which the person who was paid for to come to the New World would have to work for the person for 5 to 7 year. Along with getting someone to work with for you for 5 to 7 years you also obtained 50 acres of

Despite being held at the bottom of the social pyramid for throughout colonial times, the labor of the colonies would prove to be far from useless. While vast, open land was turned into numerous plantations in the colonies by rich planters, the plantations could not purely be run by their owners, creating a great need for labor. This lack of labor would eventually be solved through the use of African slaves, but after the first shipment of slaves to Jamestown in 1619, few were purchased due to high prices for an extended amount of time. The planters, however, would be able to fulfill their need for labor through English indentured servants. Through the use of indentured servants, basically free labor was provided to land owners, while

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.

Large amount of land and labor were required in the Tobacco agriculture. At first, these workers were mainly come from England itself and the promise of land attracted many workers. Later, the industry of Tobacco spread from Caribbean to Virginia. As a reason, colonists spread from one colony to another. At that time, the Dutch slave traders enslaved Africans to fill the needs of labor. This model was followed by the English. Many Africans became slave involuntarily and the first African slaves arrived in mainland North America in late August of 1619 when a ship carrying slaves from Africa docked in Jamestown, Virginia. They were different from indentured workers by their endless term of service.