Slavery has been in colonial America since as early as 1619. The reason for bringing slaves over to America was for profit. Tobacco was a crop that took lots of work to harvest, and with the use of slave labor the harvesters were able to have the land nurtured.
Even though slaves cost two and a half times more than servants, they were worth more because their slavery was for life. Servants completed their labor term in three to four years. In the early American colonies slave labor for tobacco was not really needed, because the colonies were supplied with English laborers.
In the early colonies of America before 1650, people of African descent varied in their stature. As time passed slavery started to take hold on the American colonies, …show more content…
On average 10-20 percent of the newly enslaved would die on route because of illness or lack of food. The quarters were so small at times people were placed on top of one another. The ship hands tried to get as many captured people on board so that they could earn more of a profit when they returned to sell the newly enslaved. With its abundance of people, Africa seemed the prime target to capture slaves and bring back to the new land. By 1710 people of African descent composed one fifth of the region’s population. With the large number of slaves being introduced into the colonies they had a great impact on the economy and in reshaping the population as a whole. The Africans brought their expertise of travel, planting and hunting to the new world. The African dugout canoe became the chief means of transportation in the colonies. The Africans’ fishing nets that were copied by the mainlanders turned out to be much more effective than the ones the English had invented as were their techniques of cattle …show more content…
Why not more? Why did the colonists need to bring Africans over to the Americas when so many Indians already here? Indians posed a difficulty. Indians by and large remained free because they resisted and were difficult to control. Indians who were slaves were able to escape and not be caught, for unlike the Africans and the landowners, Indians could escape into the countryside, which they knew intimately.
Slavery was brutal; whipping occurred frequently and usually occurred in a public setting as an example to others. The work was backbreaking and conditions were not less than ideal. In 1712 the blacks had a rebellion in New York City, which lasted only one evening. But in 1739 in South Carolina the Stono Rebellion lasted several days. In both incidents many blacks lost their lives. The hopes of setting captured blacks free didn’t happen. In 1731 a law was put on the books prohibiting Africans from owning or possessing a gun and also fined owners for letting slaves wander at night alone. Running away, work resistance and revolution became the most common form of African resistance to slavery and helped to build a bond in the community as a whole.
Slavery in the early colonies turned from Africans being able to earn their freedom to being treated brutally. Without the expertise from the Africans, the early American colonies would not have flourished as they
Even though slaves cost two and a half times more than servants, they were worth more because their slavery was for life. Servants completed their labor term in three to four years. In the early American colonies slave labor for tobacco was not really needed, because the colonies were supplied with English laborers.
In the early colonies of America before 1650, people of African descent varied in their stature. As time passed slavery started to take hold on the American colonies, …show more content…
On average 10-20 percent of the newly enslaved would die on route because of illness or lack of food. The quarters were so small at times people were placed on top of one another. The ship hands tried to get as many captured people on board so that they could earn more of a profit when they returned to sell the newly enslaved. With its abundance of people, Africa seemed the prime target to capture slaves and bring back to the new land. By 1710 people of African descent composed one fifth of the region’s population. With the large number of slaves being introduced into the colonies they had a great impact on the economy and in reshaping the population as a whole. The Africans brought their expertise of travel, planting and hunting to the new world. The African dugout canoe became the chief means of transportation in the colonies. The Africans’ fishing nets that were copied by the mainlanders turned out to be much more effective than the ones the English had invented as were their techniques of cattle …show more content…
Why not more? Why did the colonists need to bring Africans over to the Americas when so many Indians already here? Indians posed a difficulty. Indians by and large remained free because they resisted and were difficult to control. Indians who were slaves were able to escape and not be caught, for unlike the Africans and the landowners, Indians could escape into the countryside, which they knew intimately.
Slavery was brutal; whipping occurred frequently and usually occurred in a public setting as an example to others. The work was backbreaking and conditions were not less than ideal. In 1712 the blacks had a rebellion in New York City, which lasted only one evening. But in 1739 in South Carolina the Stono Rebellion lasted several days. In both incidents many blacks lost their lives. The hopes of setting captured blacks free didn’t happen. In 1731 a law was put on the books prohibiting Africans from owning or possessing a gun and also fined owners for letting slaves wander at night alone. Running away, work resistance and revolution became the most common form of African resistance to slavery and helped to build a bond in the community as a whole.
Slavery in the early colonies turned from Africans being able to earn their freedom to being treated brutally. Without the expertise from the Africans, the early American colonies would not have flourished as they