The question "did racism cause slavery or did slavery cause racism?” forms an integral part of the book. It is stated that racism became a key part of society to justify the institution of slavery in America. All across the colonies, even in the societies in which the economy was not entirely dependent upon slave labor, slaves and their free labor were used to bolster and build the economy. In areas like the north and the Mississippi Valley in which more slaves lived in urban areas and interacted with their white counterparts more often, the racial divide wasn 't as stark. However, disparities in the treatment of different races became more extreme in areas like the Low country and the Chesapeake, where economic events such as the rice revolution and tobacco revolution completely changed the area 's agriculture, and the status of a slave completely changed to suit the needs of the cash
The question "did racism cause slavery or did slavery cause racism?” forms an integral part of the book. It is stated that racism became a key part of society to justify the institution of slavery in America. All across the colonies, even in the societies in which the economy was not entirely dependent upon slave labor, slaves and their free labor were used to bolster and build the economy. In areas like the north and the Mississippi Valley in which more slaves lived in urban areas and interacted with their white counterparts more often, the racial divide wasn 't as stark. However, disparities in the treatment of different races became more extreme in areas like the Low country and the Chesapeake, where economic events such as the rice revolution and tobacco revolution completely changed the area 's agriculture, and the status of a slave completely changed to suit the needs of the cash