One of the first economic issues that arose in the New World was a labor shortage in comparison to the abundance of land- the opposite of which had been the case in Europe. Contributing to the scarcity of labor was the fact that “few settlers wanted to work for others when they could get farms of their own.” One of the only practical solutions to this problem was to seek labor elsewhere, in other parts of the world. This led to the adoption of enslaved Africans as the primary labor source in the developing colonies, an event that would irrevocably entwine slavery and the Southern economy. Also, because there were so few workers available, the colonists that chose to work were able to demand high wages for their service (Goldfield et al. 73).
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One example is the possessive attitude already well established among Southern planters in relation to indentured servants: “Chesapeake planters had already come to see white servants as possessions, whose labor could be bought and sold like any other commodity…” As such, when the servant system was substituted with slavery, the planters had a much easier time adapting to the harshness and brutality of slave ownership, since they were well acquainted with the idea that their labor force was, in essence, their property, to do with it what they wished. This mindset allowed any hesitant planters to overcome the moral conflict they would have otherwise had with the cruel slave system, which assisted the growth of slavery in the South. Another social factor that accelerated the growth of slavery in the South was that the colonists retained an air of importance which dated back to the founding of Jamestown in 1607. During that time, Captain John Smith “imposed military discipline on Jamestown’s settlers” in an effort to help the colony survive. One of Smith’s mantras was “he that will not worke shall not eate”. Though Smith succeeded in resuscitating the failing Jamestown colony, his imperious tactics angered some colonists who retained the belief that manual labor was below them due to their social status back in England (38). This sense of entitlement and unwillingness to work not only drove planters to seek a labor source that they could exploit for their own personal benefit but also prolonged the use of slavery in the Southern
One example is the possessive attitude already well established among Southern planters in relation to indentured servants: “Chesapeake planters had already come to see white servants as possessions, whose labor could be bought and sold like any other commodity…” As such, when the servant system was substituted with slavery, the planters had a much easier time adapting to the harshness and brutality of slave ownership, since they were well acquainted with the idea that their labor force was, in essence, their property, to do with it what they wished. This mindset allowed any hesitant planters to overcome the moral conflict they would have otherwise had with the cruel slave system, which assisted the growth of slavery in the South. Another social factor that accelerated the growth of slavery in the South was that the colonists retained an air of importance which dated back to the founding of Jamestown in 1607. During that time, Captain John Smith “imposed military discipline on Jamestown’s settlers” in an effort to help the colony survive. One of Smith’s mantras was “he that will not worke shall not eate”. Though Smith succeeded in resuscitating the failing Jamestown colony, his imperious tactics angered some colonists who retained the belief that manual labor was below them due to their social status back in England (38). This sense of entitlement and unwillingness to work not only drove planters to seek a labor source that they could exploit for their own personal benefit but also prolonged the use of slavery in the Southern