2.6: Slavery in Colonies
2.6: Explain the causes and effects of slavery in the various British colonial regions
In the last set of notes, we talked about the interactions between natives and Europeans and now, we’ll be moving on to the third major group that was now in the Americas: African slaves.
As a result of the Atlantic slave trade, roughly 3 million slaves were brought to the British colonies in North America and the Caribbean during this period. Many suffered through the Middle Passage in which they were packed into ships so densely that about half a million died during transport. But upon their arrival in the Americas, these slaves shaped colonial society in a variety of ways.
The demand for slavery increased toward the end of the 17th century for many reasons. For example, in 1676, Bacon's Rebellion occurred in Virginia where indentured servants rebelled against Governor William Berkeley. This made the colonies concerned about future uprisings, leading to slaves being used to replace indentured labor. Sugarcane and tobacco also became increasingly popular during this time period, resulting in a need for more labor.
Generally, the farther south you went, the more slaves there were. In the New England colonies, few slaves were needed because most farms were small. In the Middle Colonies, most slaves worked in port cities such as New York City as servants, seamen, and dockworkers. The Chesapeake and Southern Colonies had a greater number of enslaved people because they required them for their plantation system. After the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became a major crop in the South. Because cotton needed a lot of labor to collect and grew easily in warm, southern environments, many slaves were brought here. Lastly, in the British West Indies, African laborers accounted for the largest portion of the population due to the tropical environment.
Slavery
Now let’s talk about how slavery changed over time. This form of race-based slavery was called chattel slavery. Chattel meant property and the slaves were treated as if they were property. The plantation owners told themselves that they were the same as farm animals or tools. Slaves were made to harvest cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, rice, and indigo throughout the South. These crops were not grown primarily for food, but were instead farmed to be sold to other lands.
Since the British West Indies had the most slaves, their practices influenced how slavery was done everywhere else in the colonies, especially the Southern Colonies. The most notable example is the creation of slave laws on the island of Barbados called the Barbados Code of 1661. This legally defined African slaves as property, made slavery hereditary, and gave slaveowners the right to kill their slaves. Virginia would later establish similar laws based on Barbados’s slave laws. Other laws banned slaves from traveling, gathering in large groups, getting married, reading, and serving on juries, allowing slaveowners to abuse their slaves without any fear of punishment.
Slave Resistance
However, the enslaved individuals were not passive recipients of slavery. They also engaged in various forms of resistance, both overt and covert. Covertly, they maintained their cultural traditions and beliefs, and spoke their native languages. They also slowed down work by breaking tools, burning crops, escaping, committing suicide, or doing the bare minimum. However, plantation owners were more concerned about overt forms of resistance because these were more violent. Plantation owners feared a revolt in the Southern Colonies because most of their population was black.
The Stono Rebellion in 1739 in South Carolina was an example of this fear becoming a reality. In this rebellion, a group of enslaved men stole weapons and killed the white owners of a store. As they marched along the Stono River, more slaves joined them, burning plantations and killing people along the way. The rebellion ended when a militia confronted them, killing and hanging the rebels. Rebellions such as these only made the treatment of slaves worse as the plantation owners attempted to stop future rebellions from happening.
And although the plantation owners tried to convince themselves that they were being benevolent caretakers by taking in slaves and that it was merciful for them to care for them, the Stono Rebellion and other similar events proved that the slaves didn’t agree.
