Slave History

1 Pages 260 Words

2. Describe the change in slavery as an institution from 1680 to 1739.
By the 1680’s, planters in Chesapeake colonies of Virginia and Maryland began to shift from servants to slaves and the rest of the colonies were soon to follow. Two factors aided in the institutionalization of slavery, the decline of indentured servitude and the availability of African slaves.
The Spanish and Portuguese first brought African slaves to America to replace the number of dwindling of Indian slaves. The Dutch soon followed in the profitable business of slave trade, other colonies adopted the trade slowly. The growing colonies were increasing; and decline in servant migration produced a labor crisis. With the spread of tobacco farming in the 1670's, and the diminishing number of people willing to sign-on as indentured servants in the 1680's, increasing numbers of slaves were brought in from Africa. They replaced Native American slaves, who were found to be susceptible to diseases of European origin. Slavery provided the labor force for a high-pressure profit-making capitalist system of plantation agriculture producing cotton, sugar, coffee, and cocoa for distant markets. They were fundamental to the economy, and highly profitable. The availability and convenience of them also made the slaves so desirable. In 1964 English companies began transporting slaves in to the Caribbean and mainland. By the 1720 slave trade was institutionalized in all southern colonies.
In conclusion slaves were seen not as people they were seen as property, the lack of servants and availability of slaves made slavery so desirable for farmers, which made institutionalizing slavery easy....