The Need for Slavery in the Colonies

Britain’s colonies in North America went from a society with slaves to a slave society. Owning slaves became a key part of everyday life for many plantation owners by the end of the period. Throughout the period, the focus shifted from indentured servitude to slavery because slaves proved to be more profitable. Slavery in the colonies stayed so popular because it was based on racial, social, and economic values. It changed the way that plantation owners did things, and they wanted to keep their own profits

After the slaves surrendered, the remaining members of the slaves that rebelled were hung for their crimes. These slaves were made an example to all other slaves, making them not even want to attempt to rebel in the future. This rebellion led to much harsher slave codes that were enforced in the colony. It also restricted the slaves so much that it meant that they could not go anywhere without their owners permission at any time. “The Negro Act of 1740 was passed which prohibited enslaved people from growing their own food, assembling in groups, earning money they, rather than their owners, could retain or learning to read.” (The Black Past.org)

The introduction of Africans to America in 1619 set off an irreversible chain of events that effected the economy of the southern colonies. With a switch from the expensive system of indentured servitude, slavery emerged and grew rapidly for various reasons, consisting of economic, geographic, and social factors. The expansion of slavery in the southern colonies, from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to just before America gained its independence in 1775, had a lasting impact on the development of our nation’s economy, due to the fact that slaves were easy to obtain, provided a life-long workforce, and were a different race than the colonists, making it easier to justify the immoral act.

In the 1600's, tobacco became the main source of income for most of the colonists. The economic prosperity of the colonies was primarily dependent on the amount of tobacco produced. The growing of tobacco needed large amount of land, with a large stable work force. The increased demand for a large, stable work force combined with the availability and low price of African slaves, led to the use of slavery in the colonies. To the planter, slavery was the ideal form of labor that would be most beneficial to productivity of his crop.#

Slaves in the colonies during the revolution were faced with no real options and little liberty. The slaves’ lot in life varied greatly between individual experiences. Those slave owners who had only a few slaves generally treated their slaves better than those with large numbers of slaves. Even if they were treated well, the slaves had little in the way of freedom. They would be required to work throughout the day at the bidding of their masters and had no recourse to whatever punishment was given at their master’s hands. The slaves also had little hope of ever obtaining freedom for themselves and their children (Pavao, n.d.).

Although, Slavery had existed for centuries as a lowest social status in different parts of the world like Africa, Roman Empire, Middle East and etc., in English colonies slavery gained an importance, because of increasing demand for labor force and becoming relationship legitimated by law. Therefore, Englishmen were the reason of slavery in the colonies and its consequences.

Slaves were an economic positive but a social negative in history. They helped the economics of the country thrive and grow, but it was also a insult of a race. Africans also had a history that they should have been proud to have. Instead, they were denied their heritage and were made to be ashamed of the people that they were. The development of slavery was the white slave owners ' way to maintain control of the growing population of Africans, socially and industrially. If the slaves were confined to the fields of the plantations for supervision, the whites would remain dominant race and maintain their theory of "white supremacy." It also freed the slave owners from the worries of labor

Slavery was extremely beneficial because it served as the foundation for producing tobacco, cotton, and rice in the South. Diversity amongst British colonies was evident when it came to creating laws related to slaves. Colonies in the South such as Carolina relied on slaves for economic stability. These colonies established a slave society where laws allowed slaves to be seen as legal property and removed all individual freedom. Thus, the South became a slave state. However, the Northern colonies such as Rhode Island and New York did not rely on slaves as much as the South. As a result, the North set up less strict laws because the economy was not as reliant on slaves. However, in all colonies, new slave codes made slavery an inherited and permanent status. Slave owners could pass on slaves to the next generation

All the masters wanted was for the servants to make them money. In the early years of indentured servitude in the Chesapeake, servants were dying everywhere due to diseases, such as, Malaria from the native mosquitoes. When the masters were paying for more than they were getting out of the servants, they resorted to slaves. The Southern colonies and the Chesapeake used the most slaves. The first slaves that white men had were Natives that had been captured.

This allowed the freed servants to be self sufficient, and in some cases, these servants would even hire their own indentured servants. However, when these dues were not sufficient and did not include land, some servants had no choice other than continue in servitude. As such, the “freedom dues” would directly affect the colonial economy, determining whether or not there would be additional land owners. The indentured servants would also prove to help the already existing landowners to gain more land. The head right system, implemented in southern colonies such as Virginia and Maryland, gave a landowner or planter 50 acres of land for each servant he paid for to come with him to live in that colony. Here, the indentured servants helped the economy by allowing landowners to expand their territory, and produce more goods/crops. While at work, the servants also had a major and direct effect on the economy. From the early 1600s to the early 1700s, indentured servants comprised the majority of labor on the plantations and farms of the colonies. Without the use of indentured servants, the colonial economy would have crashed, as there would have been no labor to work on the vast plantations. Until African slaves became a more cost-efficient option for colonial landowners, the use of indentured servants was a very much viable alternative.

While slavery was a horrific thing that led to the mistreatment of millions of black people, it had the power to last for centuries. When looking closely at historical accounts it becomes easier to see why this horrible practice was able to sustain for so long. One of the reasons was because the economy of Colonial America relied heavily on the labor of slaves. Farming, the slave trade itself, and the harsh treatment of slaves were all driven by the greed of slave owners. Another reason that slavery lasted so long was racism. During this time, the black population was considered inferior to the white population. This helped to promote the cruel behaviors that occurred in slavery. Lastly, many whites actually felt that the slaves were treated

In the American colonies, Virginians switched from indentured servants to slaves for their labor needs for many reasons. A major reason was the shift in the relative supply of indentured servants and slaves. While the colonial demand for labor was increasing, a sharp decrease occurred in the number of English migrants arriving in America under indenture. Slaves were permanent property and female slaves passed their status on to their children. Slaves also seemed to be a better investment than indentured servants. Slaves also offered masters a reduced level of successful flight.

Samuel Chapman 11/11/16 Period: 1 Economics of Slavery and How it Helped Shape America Though slavery was a dark part of America’s history, it was unfortunately an effective business at the time. The slave trade was very lucrative for all parties involved. Additionally, the invention of the cotton gin made the practice of slavery even more profitable. During the era of slavery in America, the rapidly growing economy was dependent on the slave trade.

During the development of the colonies and the nation as a whole, slaves were utilized in order to produce the crops and perform laborious tasks that were “below” white people. In the 1660s, there was an increased demand for tobacco products as well as indigo and rice in England (“African American Slavery in the Colonial Era, 1619-1775”). In order to fulfill the demand, there was a spike in interest in purchasing slaves. More and more slaves were needed to produce larger amounts of crops for the plantation owners.

Many Northern Americans by the 1840s had finally realized that slavery was cruel and evil, While most of the Southerners thought it was good. The slaves had many advantages and disadvantages, although most people would argue that everything about being a slave is unacceptable. Some advantages of being a slave would be being provided by having clothes and food, being part of the family and lastly because they were needed to help so the whites depended on the with outside labor. Although being a slave has some advantages it also comes with disadvantages. Some disadvantages would be that the slaves are holding us back, slavery is evil because they are being mistreated and lastly because we celebrate a holiday that is a sham to them.