The Role Of Slavery In The 17th Century

Introduction: In 1619, Jamestown, Virginia, African American were brought to North America to aid in production of crop such as tobacco. Slavery happened from 1619 through 1865. Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin was also invented 1793 and led slaves to great demand in the South. The cotton gin influenced the history of the United States.

Slavery continued on during the late 1600s and the 1700s, and the African American slaves helped build the economic foundations of the new nation. One of the major inventions that assisted in the demand for more slaves was the cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793.

The 17th century also known as the "Age of Reason" was the spread of European influence into the Americas, Caribbean, and Africa. This caused the spread of ideas, goods, and even faith which lead to the creation of new colonies. To maintain and support the colonies there's a need for laborers which cause the two main these of the 17th century. These themes are indentured servitude and the concept of slavery.

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.

Slavery began the year of 1619, in a colony in North American Colony by the name of Jamestown, Virginia aids in production to lucrative production. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries slavery was practiced throughout the American colonies. It was introduced by the Dutch whenever they captured the first African American, slavery then after the introduction of it became cruelty, and abuse for free labor. At first people had the slaves work on tobacco, rice and indigo plantations as the South face an economic crisis and continually, but still slavery continued to grow

When property laws are applied to people, slavery exists; slavery was the backbone on which the United States, especially the South, was built. slavery began in America when the first African born slaves were captured, and forcibly brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to help aid in the production of tobacco and other crops. slavery was something commonly practiced throughout the American colonies throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. During the 17th century, European settlers of North America turned to African born slaves as a cheaper, more plentiful labor source than indentured servants, who would work for a certain amount of years while living with their owner, they would then gain freedom after a certain amount years. Some historians estimate that a total of over 7 million African born slaves were imported to the New World during the 18th century alone.

Slavery in America started when the leading slaves, mainly of the African descent, were taken to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in the 17th century to aid in the production of cash crops, such as tobacco. Slavery was prevalent in the American colonies both in the 17th and 18th centuries. The invention of the cotton gin hardened the need of slavery in the South’s economy. However, by the mid-19th century, the American expansion together with abolition movement triggered a big argument on the issue of slavery leading to a civil war. The slaveholders created a destitute, voiceless, and dependent community of oppressed slaves who had no right and could not question their authority by using inhumane ways of punishment, such as public beating and sexual abuse, to instill fear and degrade them. This progression is vividly captured in the book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass.

In the early 1700s most citizens owned slaves. Benjamin franklin was one of those citizens who owned slaves. He as well as other believed spaces could not be educated. Franklin had a newspaper by the name of Pennsylvania Gazette, which was a newspapers that advertised the sale of slaves and published notices of runaways.

Disease was a big thing on board due to close quarters. Common illnesses were fever, dysentery, and smallpox. Slaves were fed twice a day and if they didn't eat they were forced. Also if a captive dies they are thrown overboard to prevent more illnesses. “The combination of disease, inadequate food, rebellion and punishment took a heavy toll on captives and crew alike. Surviving records suggest that until the 1750s one in five Africans on board ship died.”(liverpoolmuseums.org.uk). The British and French made laws stating that the number of people on board must be reduced and every ship must have a surgeon aboard. This was only made concerning crew members health not the captives. The surgeons onboard the ships were usually unqualified, but

The document shows that there was bias in Virginia society that time. Beginning with a situation in 1630, Negroes are human like others, but they were considered to be something dirty that may cause sin for who did something with them. Hugh Davis was punished because of that. After that, there were many laws to control them. The laws define slavery in terms that were specifically racial. January 1639/40-ACT X was created to reduce the right of the Negro. In addition, when those people became slaves, they had to be slaves in their remaining lifetime (as seen in the law March 1661/2). Moreover, in December 1662-ACT XII, it stated that children could be slave or not considering the condition of their mother. So a new born baby was slave if the

Have you ever wander how it was in the 1800's in the U.S . How the U.S treated the Slaves and Natives Have you ask this question to yourself about who was treated worst the Slaves or the Natives by the U.S government. For slaves they were people that work for the white in the south the worked on tobacco and cotton and other thing, but mainly tobacco and cotton because the U.S us it. Then for the Natives they were on the land that the U.S wanted for the people. The ones that were treated the worst was the Slaves they had to lose every thing in Africa because the were furs to come and work as slaves.

In 1619, slavery started in Jamestown, Virginia, being used to help out farming tobacco and other crops. Native Americans were first to be slaves but kept dying due to diseases, exhaustion of heat, and being relocated to another region, west of the Mississippi River. America, specifically the South, replaced Natives with African Americans since they can stand more heat and have a stronger immune system compared to the Natives. Americas managed to persuade them so come to America and

Many people view slavery as one consecutive time period where African Americans were captured and kept to serve the needs of Caucasian individuals and families. But not very many people know the true extent of slavery among the colonies. Less are aware of the nature in which slavery evolved from a trading industry in the 17th century into its greater known state of forced labor in the 19th century.

However, in 1619, the first slaves from Africa sat foot in the Jamestown, Virginia. Since Jamestown was in a decaying state, changes needed to occur. Tobacco was a major crop to grow but the colonists of Jamestown did not have enough man power to harvest it all. In order to stabilize the economy, the Virginians required heavy labor. Slaves from Africa were sold as indentured servants; person that worked for several years but then was granted freedom after their servitude. Since the Virginians relied on the growth of corn for grain and tobacco to feed and fund the growth of their population, the Europeans relied on the slave tactics from Africa in order increase their efficiency in agriculture.

Despite the horror of the word slavery we have to admit that slaves have played a big role in rising big empires. For example the Egyptians used slaves to build their majestic pyramids, the Chinese and Indian used slaves for large-scale construction and agricultural and the Hebrews also used slaves. Slaves were brought from Africa to the British American colonies to work in agriculture and farming, which among other factors made the British colonies in America become so strong and prosperous.