SLAVERY IN AMERICA CHANGING RELATIONSHIPS

Slavery in America from Charter Generation to Plantation Generation

Slavery in America from Charter Generation to Plantation Generation

Introduction

Slavery in Colonial America was a horrendous institution established in the seventeenth century. However, there are some debates over why slavery was founded in the colonies. There are many reasons to why slavery developed in Colonial America, but the debate lies in racism. While some historians think that racism was a result of slavery, others believe that slavery began because of racial prejudice. Ultimately, racism was an important part of slavery, however slavery commenced because of economic and social reasons (Drescher, 1998).

Many aspects of slavery must be determined to come to the root of why slavery began. Some historians, such as Carl Degler and Winthrop D. Jordan, argue that racism led to slavery. However some other historians, like Oscar and Mary Handlin, believe that racism developed from slavery (Breen, & Innes, 1980). That is not entirely true. There has always been an underlying belief among Europeans that they were superior above all other races.

In many of the colonies, indentured servants were to be set free at a set time. This lead to a large class of dependant white workers who were to be paid, and it also lead way to the need for a permanent labor work force. Slavery was the answer to both these problems. Not only did slavery let landowners pay for a cheap, permanent work force, it also left landowner's minds unobstructed to the fact that they were enslaving a human being because of race (Brown, 1996). However, according to Peter Wood, the most important thing was not race, it was the fact that many white workers refused to work in rice fields (Drescher, 1998).

Background

Slaves were in bondage and were force to work. Because whites refuse dot work in rice fields, it lead to an advantage in slavery. Slaves could be forced to do any work. Moreover, slaves were much better at cultivating the rice fields than the whites. This lead to more economic growth because the landowners were able to produce more. This economic growth not only benefited the landowners themselves, it also benefited Colonial America as a whole. (Charles B. 2002 Pp. 45-46)

Although the Chesapeake Colonies and New England Colonies were settled at around the same time, the specific situations affecting each establishment altered the way that they developed. Jamestown was the first settlement on May 24, 1607 (Drescher, 1998). The Virginia Company of London, a joint-stock firm, commissioned it. The Jamestown colonists had increased pressure to strike it rich, because of the threat of abandonment in the wilderness. The first settlement in the New England region was Plymouth, which was founded 13 years later in 1620. It too struck an agreement with the Virginia Company, but steered far off course, and ended up far away from the Virginia Company's jurisdiction. It contained Seperatists, who as their name denotes, wanted separation from the Church of ...