Creating Anglo-America:Origins of American Slavery

Chapter 3 ~ AP US History

Give Me Liberty, The Enduring Vision, and The Americans

What attitude did the Pilgrims have toward their arrival in Cape Cod?

• “Being thus passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before in their preparation…, they had now no friends to wellcome them, nor inns to entertaine or refresh their weatherbeaten bodys, no houses or much less towns to repaire too, to seeke for succore.”

William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation,

c. 1630

Slavery and Empire

• What was one of the greatest points of

contradiction in this period?

• 1680: landowners were afraid of

mutinous indentured servants (Bacon’s

Rebellion)

• After 1680: slaves outnumbered

indentured servants.

• 1750: this group accounted for nearly half

of the Virginian population.

• From where were most slaves arriving?

• West Africa: the Gold Coast and Angola.

• How did slavery change in the Americas?

• Slave codes: slaves would remain slaves

for life (chattels).

Chesapeake Slavery

• Life in America was brutal, especially in the

Chesapeake (Virginia/Maryland).

• The work there was hard and the climate was humid!

• Diseases: malaria, dysentery, & typhoid were deadly.

• Life expectancy is grim!

• ½ of those born in the early Chesapeake died before

age 20.

• Life expectancy: 40 (women) or 50 (men).

• Family-life suffered in the early colony

• Men outnumbered women 6:1!

• Family ties were weak – few children knew both

parents.

• Weak family ties are reflected in the numbers of

unmarried women who were pregnant before

marriage.

• Despite the hardships, Chesapeake did survive –

becoming the most populous colony: 59,000!

Indentured Servants• What drew people to the Americas? Owning land!

• 1700: more than 100,000 English migrants arrived

in the Chesapeake

• 1700: more than 200,000 English migrated to the

West Indies (especially Barbados)

• How did they afford to travel to the Americas?

• Most were indentured servants!

• ¾ were young men

• Most arrived in Bristol (English port city) looking for

work – convinced to sign indenture contracts!

• How did Indentured Servants support merchants?

• Chesapeake and West Indies planters would pay a

high price for indentured servants.

• Surviving of the “seasoning” – the voyage and 1st

year made these laborers a “bargain”

• Male servants usually produced 5 times their

purchase price in a single year.

Slavery in History• Slavery has existed almost the

entire history of humanity!

• Ancient Greece & Rome

• Germans, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons

• Mediterranean World

• Barbary pirates – seized

Christians for slaves

• West African slavery predates

European systems

• What was different?

• Most of these systems (except

ROME) provided freedom at

some point

• The death rate of plantation

slaves was significantly higher

• Race will enter the enslavement

system in the Americas

Slavery in the West Indies

• European importation of slaves

• 17th Century: slave trade became an international

business

• 1600: Portugal had developed sugar cane plantations to

Brazil

• Dutch West India Company & European slavery

• Took control of a large portion of Brazilian sugar

producing region

• England, France, and Denmark would also import slaves

• How is Barbados an example of the increase in slavery?

• 1660: half the island population (20,000) were slaves

• 1670: 82,000 slaves were working 750 sugar plantations

Tobacco Economy

• 1700: Chesapeake Bay exported 40 million pounds

a year.

• The head-right system encouraged growth of the

Chesapeake.

• This meant land was being rapidly purchased by

the rich while the poor were unable to gain lands.

• Early on, most of the laborers were indentured

servants.

• Life for them was hard, but there was hope at the

end of seven years for freedom.

• Conditions were brutal, and in the later years,

owners unwilling to free their servants extended

their contracts by years for small mistakes.

New England, the Middle Colonies, & The South

• Did slavery exist outside of plantation areas? YES!

• Compared to the plantation areas, New England and the Middle

Colonies were mostly areas of small farms where slavery was

not central.

• Slaves were only a small percentage of the population, and

even wealthy families rarely owned more than one slave.

• Slaves worked as farm labor, in artisan shops, on the docks,

and as personal servants.

• Slaves in the North sometimes had more legal rights than their

southern counterparts.

• What were the “protections” of New England slaves?

• Slaves could not be severely physically punished

• slaves could bring suits in court

• slave marriages were recognized

• A significant number of slaves were present in New York and

Philadelphia, although many employers of slave labor turned to

wage labor in the years before the American Revolution.

Bacon’s Rebellion

• What event accelerated the shift from indentured servants to slaves in Virginia?

• Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)!

• What precipitated this event?

• Governor Berkeley – corrupt leadership

• Elite of the colony (wealthiest planters) had a voice/say

• Berkeley's followers were rewarded with land grants & prestigious offices

• How did this represent a change?

• Tobacco had benefitted both wealthy planters and small farmers

• Some former servants – became tenant farmers

Escalating Tensions

• What else caused problems for this region?

• Taxes! Heavy taxes on tobacco = the staple crop

• Falling prices globally = reduced the ability of small farmers to make money

• By the 1670s – poverty was reminiscent of England

• What other rights were being limited?

• The right to vote – only landowners could vote by 1670 (not male suffrage)

• Were there problems among the Natives?

• NO! Governor Berkeley maintained peace

• He refused to allow settlers to move into Native lands

• This move infuriated the colonists

1676: A Pivotal Year

This Action… Caused this reaction…

Governor Berkeley had ruled for 30 years (he has

grown corrupt – favoring the wealthy planters and his

inner circle.

Berkeley’s followers are rewarded with land grants and lucrative offices – despite promises to provide land to freed indentured servants.

Wealthy planters are making money – freed servants

are forced to be tenant farmers or move to the frontiers

(encroaching on Indian territories).

Economic recession: rising tobacco production (overproduction) dropped international prices and Berkeley instituted heavy taxes on the region. Frontier settlers demand opening Indian lands for settlement.

Governor Berkeley refuses to allow colonists to settle in

Indian territories (keeping peace with the Natives).

Freed Indentures and settlers begin moving into Indian lands despite Berkeley’s rules.

A minor confrontation happens between the Indians

and the frontier colonists.

Colonists demand protections (and the extermination or removal of the Natives) from Governor Berkeley.

Berkeley refuses: he has a good relationship with the Indians (trading deerskins) and he fears all-out warfare if he intervenes.

Bacon’s Rebellion Begins! What are the demands? (1) Indian removal, (2) reduction of taxes, & (3) an end to rule by “grandees” (the rich).

The End of the Rebellion: Consequences

• What did Bacon promise his followers:

• Freedom and access to Indian lands for settlement.

• “English Liberties” – followers felt the poor were

being robbed and cheated by the elite.

• What did Bacon do in 1676?

• Gathered an army and attacked the Indians

• Berkeley ordered Bacon and his army to disband

• Marched on Jamestown (burning it down)

• Bacon briefly became the ruler of Virginia.

• Estates of Berkeley’s supporters were plundered

• What restored order to the region?

• British warships arriving – executing followers

• Bacon died of illness

• Berkeley was sent to England

• Taxes were reduced, aggressive Indian policies were

adopted, & western lands were opened to farmers.

• Acceleration of a shift to slavery!

Colonial Slave

Population, 1770