Because slaves were vital in the colony, the colonists wrote slavery into law. Strict laws were made such as, the fact that children were free based on the race of the mother. If the child was black, they would have a life of slavery. Afterword, they declared a law stating that the baptism of a Christian could not change servitude. There was no way to become free. One of the worst laws put in place was that if a planter should kill one of his slaves, the murder will not be committed as a crime. These laws are what started to make white people think degrading the Africans was acceptable. The colonizers felt the best way for their society to run smoothly was to privilege whites and demean blacks. On the other hand, the Northern colonies weren't slave societies basing their economy off of slavery, therefore they were not as driven to racially based privilege. Unlike the planters and people of the Southern colonies, the North were somewhat antislavery. The Quakers, a very present religious group in the North, had a powerful movement to free the
Because slaves were vital in the colony, the colonists wrote slavery into law. Strict laws were made such as, the fact that children were free based on the race of the mother. If the child was black, they would have a life of slavery. Afterword, they declared a law stating that the baptism of a Christian could not change servitude. There was no way to become free. One of the worst laws put in place was that if a planter should kill one of his slaves, the murder will not be committed as a crime. These laws are what started to make white people think degrading the Africans was acceptable. The colonizers felt the best way for their society to run smoothly was to privilege whites and demean blacks. On the other hand, the Northern colonies weren't slave societies basing their economy off of slavery, therefore they were not as driven to racially based privilege. Unlike the planters and people of the Southern colonies, the North were somewhat antislavery. The Quakers, a very present religious group in the North, had a powerful movement to free the