History Essay on Changes in American Slavery by 1740

During the 18th and 19th century, there was widespread slavery in the United States. Most of the victims of the trade included Africans and black Americans. One of the reasons that increased the demand for slaves in the country from 1740 was the need for farm labor after the invention of the cotton gin (Huebner). Initially, while the US was still under colonization, most of the labor was provided by British indentured servants. Since their costs of maintenance and passage were being paid for, use of slaves was seen as a cheaper option. From the 16th century, the slave trade thrived progressively despite resistance from civil groups. At some point, it became legal to carry out the vice. However, according to Marshall, consistent fight against slavery led to its abolishment in the year 1850. This paper delves into the changes that occurred in American slavery by 1740.

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According to Levine, slavery appears to have begun in the 16th century. There is a belief that its roots can be traced to the increased demand for labor for the European farmers colonizing the country. Although these slaves were black, most of them did not come directly from Africa but from the Caribbean through the Atlantic slave trade. The first Africans went to England in 1555 voluntarily, which gave a leeway for capturing of a hundred more to provide more (Huebner). In 1607, Jamestown was established as the first American colony where tobacco became the primary crop there. Consequently, the need for more labor force drove them to get more workers from the Native Americans and West Africans. During this time, Caribbean colonies became the major centers of slave trade and wealth.

The British colonial masters had a softer spot for the indigenous Americans as they were lighter skinned. Therefore, the primary targets for providing free labor were mostly the Africans. Initially, as mentioned earlier, indentured servants from Britain used to provide the much-needed workforce to the farms. They would work for some years so long as the master would pay for their trip to Jamestown and upkeep (Levine). This arrangement seemed too expensive to the masters and it led to the bringing in the first African slaves to Jamestown by Dutch businessmen in 1619. Some colonial colleges would hold enslaved people and rely on the captives to operate.

Before 1740, it was hard to acquire African slaves for colonies that formed the United States as most would be taken to the West Indies. It led to the establishment of the province of Carolina and Charles Town in 1670 by British farmers there for African slaves (Marshall). Due to the scarcity of Africans, Indian slavery was also practiced before slaves became trade commodities. In 1619, the first slaves from Africa arrived in Virginia on a Dutch ship. However, most of them were taken in as indentured servants and got their freedom after fulfilling their contract. Other critical areas that promoted slavery at this period include New York, New Jersey, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Midwest. Areas governed by French, however, implemented the Code Noir, that provided for the rights of slaves unlike the rest of the US (Levine). For instance, they were allowed to marry, forbade corporal punishment in certain conditions and no torture. They were also required to be inculcated into the Catholic faith by the owners which according to Huebner, implied that they were also human beings with a soul, a fact never acknowledged before.

In the late 17th century, the number of Africans slaves arriving in the US had become less. For this reason, a law to boost slavery was passed in Virginia. It stated that children born in the colony would be free or on bond depending on the mothers status unlike the past when it was determined by the father (Levine). This statute enabled the masters to negate their children born out of raping the slaves as they had no obligation to support or acknowledge them. During the same time, improvement of Britains economy reduced the number of indentured servants in the US. Also, there was an increasing number of poor and landless white men who had come as indentured servants. For this reason, wealthy masters in Virginia and Maryland started investing in slaves from 1660 to 1670 introduced by those in Carolina. The trade spread to Georgia and the Deep South. Consequently, Huebner indicates that the number of slaves became more than the whites who were free. Therefore, the colonists adopted authoritarian political culture to prevent rebellion by slaves and to justify the vice.

On the other hand, the royal colonies in North America also captured the native Americans and shipped them to the Caribbean as slaves. Later on, they escaped to Florida which was being colonized by the more lenient Spain where they got freedom. In 1739, black Americans who had been freed established Fort Mose as a defense post for the Northern part (Huebner). In the following year, English military carried out an attack and destroyed it as it encouraged slaves to escape from their masters. However, it was rebuilt in 1752. In this period, new slave codes were implemented to restrict their freedom more and deny them their rights strictly. The first one, a modification of the 1661 Barbados slave code, was put in place in South Carolina in 1696 (Marshall). In 1691, Virginia also came up with a law that restricted slave masters from freeing slaves unless they committed to pay for their transport outside the colonial state. It also criminalized marriage between races, rights of black people to vote, holding or bearing arms. These developments further fueled the slave trade.

In addition to the Native blacks and the Africans, according to Levine, a few East Indians were also being enslaved. With time, anti-slavery moments started coming up to express displeasure with the vice. In 1739, for instance, the Stono Rebellion was started by native Africans in which they would lie to their masters, break tools or escape (Marshall). Huebner indicates that in 1688, some German Quakers had petitioned slavery in their local meeting, but it was ignored until 1844. Most of the developments against slave-trade, however, came up after 1740.

From the early 16th century, the increased demand for labor in the US farms owned by English colonialists led to inhuman ways of having work done. Initially, they used British indentured servants but later on adopted slavery. The slaves, primarily consisting of black natives and Africans, would be denied their fundamental rights and would face torture. Various laws were implemented to safeguard the practice until there was growing rebellion over the same. Although eventually the use of slaves was abolished in the United States, the level of suffering brought to the black people during this period can never be justified.

Work Cited

Huebner, T. S. "Roger B. Taney and The Slavery Issue: Looking Beyond--And Before--Dred Scott". Journal of American History 97.1 (2010): 17-38. Web.

Levine, Bruce C. Who Built America? 1st ed. New York: Pantheon Books, 1989. Print.

Marshall, Amani. "I Belong to South Carolina: South Carolina Slave Narratives". American Nineteenth Century History 12.3 (2011): 357-358. Web.