CH. 2 Development of Slavery in Mainland North America Flashcards
What did the first colonists in Jamestown think about slavery?
wasn’t on their minds
- none of early VA/MD settlers intended to import Africans for workforce
When did black slaves first start appearing in the Chesapeake Bay colonies?
middle of 17th century
- grew rapidly after 1680
- by early 1700s = over 50% of laborers in MD/VA were of African origin/enslaved
(GB)
Why did black slavery suddenly become popular in VA/MD at the beginning of the 17th century?
English landowners found it difficult to find adequate labor force to grow tobacco
- white servitude worked alongside black slavery for a while
- black labor ultimately proved more economical/had fewer problems for landowners
(WB)
Why is that black slavery in the English colonies seen as inevitable?
colonies part of growing Atlantic economic system
- economy moving towards production of staple crops for Euro market by 17th century
- economy relied on African chattel slavery to function
- MD/VA landowners just following conventional path of Atlantic colonial system
(EEM)
Why were black slaves preferred by settlers?
- could work them harder/control them more than European servants
- Africans relatively inexpensive compared to Euros (thus brought greater profits to landowners)
(CA)
Why were the English so eager to establish Atlantic economic system overseas in the first place?
second chance at rivaling Spain for international dominance
- had failed previously when searching for precious metals + finding maritime shortcut to Asia
How did English colonization start?
sponsored by domestic investors as sailors went as far as East Indies/Ottoman Empire
- Spanish success in North America in staple producing agriculture inspired English
- colonial production of staples would create favorable balance of trade
- colonists w/ money could afford to purchase imported goods from England
- England gets exclusive trade to staple crops from overseas colonies
(SCCE)
What was the main variation between the colonies?
items that were produced
- VA/MD = tobacco exclusively at first than diversified into cereal + livestock
- SC/GA = exported livestock + timber first than established rice + indigo plantations
- MS = French landowners failed to turn profit w/ rice/indigo
- Northern colonies = produced foodstuffs (fish) + very active in carrying trade
(VSMN)
What did the commodities the different colonies were producing affect?
determined size/type of labor force that colonists required
Who did the mainland colonies have close ties to?
the Caribbean
- slave ships serviced English island colonies as well as mainland
- islanders emigrated to mainland when economic opportunity seemed greater
- mainlanders especially attuned to Caribbean
(SIM)
What happened in the Caribbean Euro colonies by 1640?
transition from tobacco/cotton to sugar plantations
- English Barbados + French Martinique both made switch
- opted for African slave labor over white servants they’d been using before
- Jamaica + St. Domingue + English islands followed suit
(EOJ)
What had happened by the last quarter of the 17th century in the Caribbean?
plantation model established “next door” to mainland North America
- still growing in other colonies up/down the Atlantic rim
- led to large amount of African slaves to be be imported to mainland colonies
(SL)
How does Ira Berlin differ between societies w/ slaves vs slave societies?
societies w/ slaves = slavery just one form of labor among many
slave society = slavery stood at center of economic production
(SS)
How does Berlin group Africans/African Americans?
chronologically by set of common experiences
- charter generations (first arrivals + their children + their grandchildren)
- plantation generations (who were forced to grow great staples)
- revolutionary generations (who faced resurgent slave regime)
(CPR)
What does Ira Berlin emphasize about the time of slavery?
- overriding importance of human toil in slavery’s growth
- stresses effects of late 18th century Age of Revolution (roiled waters of American slavery
OS)
What does Berlin say was the most consistent agitator of the waters of American slavery?
constant struggle between master/slave
- struggle persisted in every locale where slavery appeared
- was major force behind changing nature of slavery as an institution + African American society
(SW)
What did the first settlers in colonial Virginia in 1607 come to be?
traders not planters
- initials investors in Virginia Company pictured warehouses filled w/ different commodities
- settlers turned to planting when they failed as traders
(IS)
What made the transition from trading to planting easy for early settlers in Virginia?
accommodating surroundings (climate/soil/running water)
Who was the first settler to successfully grow tobacco in Virginia?
John Rolfe
How was tobacco viewed at the time?
noxious weed by some but a commodity to the English
- English used it more than any other Europeans (thus brought a good price on exports)
- by 1617 = tobacco was dominant export from VA to England
(EB)
How did England at first react to the need for more labor to tend to the tobacco fields in North America?
not worried (had plenty of domestic workers)
- English society = large domestic unemployment + dec. wages + general turmoil
- resulted in primarily young men to go overseas to work tobacco fields
(ER)
How did poor white laborers get overseas to work if they couldn’t afford the trip?
made deal w/ recruiters to repay their fare through work on land
- white laborers thus came mostly as servants/apprentices
- most served 5-7 yrs as indentured servants
(WM)
What was the hope of many early English settlers when it came to finding labor to work tobacco fields?
hoped to develop good relations w/ Native Americans
- thought Natives would be open to being exposed to “English civilizing tendencies
- trade/military alliances already had formed between them
(TT)
What happened on March 1622?
Powhatan confederacy launch surprise attack on several English colonies (results in 350 English deaths)
- caused English to have disdained image of Native people of the region
- idea of enslaving them grew popular among settlers
(CI)
How did the attempted enslavement of Native Americans in the Chesapeake Bay fare?
unsuccessful
- Native American lifestyle didn’t fit w/ regimented cultivation of tobacco fields
- either ran away/balked at the work/died from strain
(NE)
When did Africans first appear in Jamestown?
1619
- seemed to fit colonial life better than Native Americans
- first arrivals were bound laborers similar to white servants before them
- still closer to slaves than indentured servants + served longer stints than whites
- conditions still better for them than plantation slavery to come century later
(SFSC)
What were the first African arrivals to Jamestown like?
lives not significantly worse than English servants at the same place/time
- mostly Atlantic creoles familiar w/ Euro culture + Atlantic commerce system
- thus not at a disadvantage to white workers
(MT)
What was something unusual about life for first black arrivals in Jamestown?
substantial # able to purchase freedom + enter class of small planters
- some even owned servants themselves
- 10 of 53 black men in Northampton County were free (owned land + grew crops + traded + argued in court etc.)
(ST)
What were the experiences like for both black/white servants in the Chesapeake colonies?
neither pleasant nor rewarding
- most wanted to work off contract + earn a wage + obtain land/few servants + enter planter class
- many not able to achieve this goal
- servitude in North America not at all like in England
- planters extracted as much work out of servants as possible (far more than Englishmen accustomed to)
(MMSP)
What was a consequence of landowners working their black/white servants so hard?
discipline was harsh + soon seen more as a commodity than a person
- not many servants lived long enough to fulfill planter ambitions
- many died of disease in first third of the century (no matter the race)
(NM)
What was the state of the colonies in 1640?
- tobacco prices had been falling + wages remained low for first few decades of colonies
- large planters had already claimed most of the Tidewater land
- led to growing # of servants to not be able to purchase land after fulfilling contract
- caused growing unemployed/poor class of young men to emerge (similar to England) (resented wealthy)
- poor angry class seen as dangerous (all men in colonies were armed) (rebellion on the horizon) (TLLCP)
What was Bacon’’s Rebellion (1676)?
most well known poor class revolt against wealthy in North American colonies
How did landowners try to slow the growth of the poor class in the colonies?
- lengthening terms of servitude
- trying to pass laws preventing those w/o property from voting
- problem would remain
(LTP)
What was the consequence of imported white servitude to the colonies?
provided labor force but also a disruptive class of young men
What prevented the VA/MD colonies from claiming the white servants as chattel slaves to prevent rebellions?
cultural factors prevented it
- Euros okay killing each other in war but looked down on chattel slavery
What did landowners in the VA/MD colonies begin to realize in the 1670s?
switching to another form of servitude necessary to have greater control of labor force
- would need to get labor mostly outside of Europe
Other than fear of rebellion from young former servants what else dec. the # of imported English servants into the Chesapeake colonies?
- dec. # of young Englishmen available/willing to go overseas
- waning economic opportunity to be found in VA/MD to attract Englishmen
- competition from other new colonies for limited supply of white laborers
- awareness of imperial trends in labor acquisition around Atlantic
(DWCA)
What caused the shortage of English migrants to America after 1630?
- dec. in English birth rates
- start of English Civil War
- rising real wages domestically after war dec. the poor class/# of unemployed willing to travel overseas
(DSR)
What were the effects of King William III’s + Queen Anne’s Wars on the # of English willing to go work overseas?
led potential servants to find military employment/take jobs abandoned by those in service
Why did economic opportunities in the Chesapeake dec. substantially after 1680?
long depression in tobacco market began in 1680
- made it more difficult for poor immigrants to acquire enough money to buy own land/labor
- opportunity appeared greater in NY + PA (young Englishmen willing to travel went here instead)
- some whites in VA/MD left to go to NY + PA
- more whites left Chesapeake colonies through 1690s than entered them
- by 1700 = white servant immigration not close to meeting labor demand
(MOSMB)
What was the response by the Chesapeake colonies to the labor shortage post 1700?
- still imported English criminals as indentured servants + southern Irish
- dec. in # of servants + large availability of Africans ultimately led MD/VA colonies to make switch to blacks
- surplus of Africans result of inc. carrying trade between Africa/Europe to Caribbean colonies
(SDS)
How were the new African laborers different than the first arrivals in Jamestown in the early 1600s?
not the Atlantic creoles from west-central Africa
- whites considered these new Africans from west Africa “outlandish”
- had traditional face paint/scars + resembled culture English found brutish
- were comparatively inexpensive to the creoles
(WHW)
Why were the new “outlandish” African slaves worked harder than white servants?
conventions that protected white servants from overwork didn’t apply to Africans
What made full chattel slavery more attractive to Chesapeake settlers over the servant system before 1700?
settlers interested in building a family estate
- slaves + their children permanently bound
- theirs to work/sell as they choose
- VA/MD officially transforms from society w/ slaves to slave society
(STV)
At what pace did the transition to slavery occur in the Tidewater?
varied
- wealthy tobacco growers in York county bought Africans early (by 1680 4/5 laborers were black)
- more northern areas switched slower (African slave rush full steam ahead by 1695)
- Chesapeake planters had purchased 3000 African slaves by 1700
- 1700 = free whites still made up majority of tobacco labor but blacks quickly becoming laborers of choice
(WMCF)
What was the trend of the early popularity of black Atlantic slave trade in the Chesapeake?
from 1700 = Atlantic trade most popular source of black labor until pop. could self sustain (would take a while)
Why did it take a while for the black slave pop. to be able to self sustain w/o needing to import more?
- mortality rates for “unseasoned” slaves still high in first two decades of 1700s
- men slave imports largely outpaced women slave imports (meant fewer offspring)
- planters saw no need to import women since they could get young African men for good price
- planters didn’t encourage child birth (could hinder a women’s slaves ability to work)
- gender balance finally came around 1740 when pop. could self sustain w/o more importation
(MMPPG)
What economic changes did the Chesapeake region go through in the 18th century?
tobacco sapped Tidewater soil of nutrients
- as pop. of planters grew in colonies this became problem as soil didn’t have time to recover
- more planters began turning to grain production in 1750s/60s
- NC began to become more important in the region (slave economy emerging rapidly)
- Chesapeake colonies were most diversified economies on mainland by American Revolution
(AMNC)
How did NC begin to grow in the 1750s in the Chesapeake?
economy grew rapidly
- rested on naval stores + lumber + grains + provisions
- imported bulk of slaves later than most of Chesapeake + more of them directly from Africa not Caribbean
(RI)
What did all the Chesapeake colonies have in common by the 1750s?
nearly all work done by African slaves + their children
How did the slave trade begin to change in the Chesapeake in the later third of the 18th century?
slave trade began to level off but #s still staggeringly high
- 1690-1770 = 100,000 slaves imported to Chesapeake
What did the growth of black labor in the Chesapeake necessitate?
a legal basis for the institution
- long standing precedent irrelevant b/c English law didn’t allow slavery
- economic/social pressures of English planters to create slavery to compete w/ other Europeans led to legal basis
- English landowners in Caribbean had already worked through legal difficulties of slavery fortunately
- VA/MD looked to Barbados/Jamaica for legal precedent for slave codes
(LEEV)
What was the legal framework around slaves before the explosion in their pop.?
Tidewater legislators didn’t bother to codify slavery
- blacks/whites shared same escapades/punishments
What started happening involving the legal rights of blacks in the middle of the 17th century?
judges/lawmakers started to strip rights of African immigrants
- 1640s = blacks in MD lose right to bear arms
- 1640s (VA) + 1660s (MD) = black women included in list of tithable
- 1660s = MD/VA gave stiff punishment between biracial fornication
(JSSS)
What did VA pass in 1669?
an act about the casual killing of slaves
- state recognized they must make slaves fear for their lives to make them work to best ability
- law said that death of slave from master will not result in felony charges
(SL)
What happened to blacks who had gained their freedom before the legal framework around slavery?
lived normally like they had til about 1670
- by 1680 blacks had been stripped of most of their remaining rights
- biggest loss was no longer had the right to own property
(BB)
Why was the loss of the right to property considered the biggest loss to slaves?
for everyone in colonial America property was the dream
- in property all persons had legal rights that gave them confidence in dealing w/ others + underlying self respect
- taking away property right took away their ability to accumulate wealth + participate in quest for betterment
- undermined the possibility of blacks to have success in personal relations
(ITU)
What was life like for blacks in the Chesapeake colonies before slavery became popular?
blacks scattered broadly among white servants/free men
- public contacts w/ as many whites as blacks
- little segregation based on race
- seldom lived on farms w/ more than a dozen workers
- only a few lived w/ a handful of slaves
(PLSO)
What did the inc. in slaves after 1700 do to the Chesapeake colonies society?
three level society created (based on land + slave holdings)
- most landowners lived on small farms (have a slave or two but family members did most of work)
- middle level of landowners who owned a few slaves (aspired to be big planters)
- middle level = economically/socially transient group (either middle moved up/overreached + moved down)
- largest planters (smallest class) = eventually owned nearly all slaves in the two colonies (MD/VA)
- largest planters = hired overseers from group of young landless white men to harshly discipline slaves
(MMMLL)
How did slaves + farms + crops change in Chesapeake society post 1700?
fell into distinct spacial arrangements
- largest plantations = tobacco holdings along Chesapeake Bay
- wealth/slaves concentrated in these tobacco core regions in both MD + VA
- around periphery grain farming + livestock were primary economic activities (smaller land/fewer slaves)
(LWA)
How were slaves housed in the Chesapeake colonies?
did not live in single group communal quarters
- planters often housed slaves in small clusters of dwellings around their holdings
- this dispersed cattle/hogs + put laborers close to the fields they worked
- MD = typical dwelling housed 4-5 men/women field hands + 1-2 women for cooking/cleaning/childcare
(PTM)
How did the establishment of black slavery in the Chesapeake colonies change every facet of society through the 18th century?
- blacks made up nearly 40% of each colonies population by 1780
- VA legislators created more restrictive rules as slave pop. grew
- use of overseer + private slave catchers
- reliance on white pop. to guard against runaways
- eventually moved towards use of militias
(BVURE)
What were the early slave patrols like in the Chesapeake colonies?
often consisted of cross sections of white society (not just lower class)
What was the opposite effect that came with the growth of black slavery in the Chesapeake colonies?
almost complete disappearance of free blacks
- made up less than 5% of Chesapeake pop. by American Revolution
What makes up the Low Country in the US?
modern day Florida + Georgia + South Carolina
What was the first European nation to colonize the Low Country?
Spain
- also first to introduce African slaves to Low Country
How did African slaves participate in the early parts of the Low Country during Spanish rule?
worked on the building/fortification of St. Augustine in FL
- would help build stone fortresses in 1672 to protect Spanish from pirates/other Euro nations
- 1683 = 6 black/mulatto officers + 42 soldiers part of St. Augustine black militia
(WS)
