Slave Labor Impact On Slavery

Throughout the time of the Roanoke catastrophe and the hardships of Jamestown, tobacco made its grand introduction as America’s newest cash commodity that would allow success to flourish in Virginia, with a permanent English presence. Tobacco was formally popularized by a man named John Rolfe in the year 1610 and became the top resource that helped the future of this colony thrive. Tobacco did all of this by turning an

Slavery and its effects evidently led to the civil war. There was debate in the 1800s over various slave states and slaves benefiting economy. Slavery was beneficial to some, but others thought it was morally wrong. Although slavery benefited the South, the effects on politics, economics and morality caused the civil war as evidenced by historical documents such as lectures and letters from well rounded individuals in the 1800s.

One major formation that occurred in Virginia was having slave laborers produce tobacco which boosted the economy, gained power and wealth, and increased the social status of slavery and exportation of tobacco. Tobacco was the most successful crop in the British Colony and took over commerce in the Atlantic through the colonial period. By the eighteenth century, the production of tobacco had been taken over by wealthy planters and merchants of the Chesapeake region. The Chesapeake region took an interests in the economy of the British. This interests worked well with the planters. The use of enslaved laborers in Virginia expanded slowly into the seventeenth century. Slaves only made up about 20 percent of taxable labor. The evidence reflects the population and statistics, and it is known that over 30 years of historians have recognized half of the seventeenth century when slavery occurred. This concludes that timing eventually led to a

Throughout the early 17th century, settlements began to form in what is now known as the New World. With a desire for commodities, the Chesapeake region became an attraction for many coming from England. The search for wealth in the Chesapeake region was from Virginia all the way down to Georgia. Furthermore, New England was a place for religious freedom where families could separate from the Anglican Church and be free of England’s demands in beliefs. From Maine to Connecticut freedom of religion was a main appeal for many to populate the colony. Many of these settlers came from the same place, England, they came with similar ideas and philosophies based upon previous experiences. Although, their intentions were entirely different based upon

The demand of tobacco cultivation in the Chesapeake resulted in an increase of the slave trade. Unlike indentured servants, Africans was not protected by English law, and was accustomed to intensive labor as well as resistant to many diseases. And because the Native Americans were more familiar with the land which in turn made running away easier, it was hard to keep Indians as slaves. Authorities wanted to improve the status of white servants thus taking away the perception that Virginia was a death trap. In the 1660s, Virginia and Maryland laws referred explicitly to slavery. As Tobacco cultivation continued to increase so did the condition of black and white servants divided. The laws became more stricter and freedom for blacks became nonexistent,

The historical records of the 1640s show the beginning and growth of African slavery in the Chesapeake area. The constantly growing of tobacco planting caused a higher demand for labor, resulting in an increase in African slavery and indentured servants. The condition for black and white servants varied sharply. The white indentured servants started getting an improved status while the black servants began losing more freedoms. A Virginia law of 1662 also caused a rise in the number of slaves because it stated that the status of the offspring followed that of the mother. This means that any children of a slave woman and a white man would live as a slave, which led to an increase in the sexual abuse of slave women. The shift from white indentured

This coupled with the fact that the servants did not hold their masters in high regard, created an enormous economic problem as the planters had now found themselves “tied to an economic system (slavery) over which they had little control.” The changes in tobacco prices made wage earners and planters of small farms subject to poverty as the amount of money and time invested to the labour force was not making its return. This increase in a demand for large stable work forces combined with the availability of African slaves, led to the use of slavery in Virginia and ultimately the United States. Before the end of the century it is believed the first “negro” slaves came from Barbados, however it is argued in T.H Breens “The Giddy Multitude” that this is doubtful as Virginian planters wouldn't want to invest what small capital they had into labourers who had very little skill in harvesting tobacco and who could easily die after a seasons

By 1600, England’s feudal system was nearing extinction, as a new family (Tudor’s) came to power and wanted support from the middleclass and the establishment of new liberties for Englishman (i.e. trial by jury and no arrest without a warrant), which resulted in a large amount of local and self initiative to prosper in the community: yet many beggars now existed, culminating in an increased need for colonial expansion both for personal prosperity and more space for the existing population.

Tobacco farming required much labor, and colonial America could not supply that labor with just the settlers already living there. This need for labor was satisfied by indentured servants and African slaves (3). Indentured servants raised the population by bringing in people who could not afford their way over to America (Weeks 1). The indentured servants were promised freedom and land after serving for a set amount of years (Pecquet 469). Soon after, as the indentured servants were getting less and less land than promised, if any at all, Bacon's Rebellion broke out in Virginia (Lorenz 14). This forced the colonists to find a different servitude option. They turned to African slavery to quench their desire for a cheap, reliable labor source (Weeks 1). At least 350,000 Africans were needed to produce the amount of tobacco to supply for the demands of the people (1). African slavery started racial tensions and

Tobacco had an effect on the colonies in many different ways. In colonial Virginia, tobacco was it’s most successful cash crop. The tobacco that the first English settlers encountered in Virginia tasted bitter and dark to the English. In 1612 John Rolfe obtained Spanish seeds, Nicotiana tabacum, from the Orinoco River valley. These seeds when planted at the bottomland of the James River, produced a still dark, but milder leaf. This became the European standard for tobacco.

Slavery was a harsh system that consisted of forcing other human beings to work in harsh conditions; as well as restrict their freedom to the point where they had none. Slavery was first introduced into Colonial America in 1619, and lasted for 245 years. During those 245 years, slavery harshly affected those who were involved in its system. The institution of slavery has profoundly influenced and shaped multiple aspects of Colonial America and the United States. Slavery influenced the 13 Colonies and the U.S. by the growth in sales for Cotton, and farming. Slavery shaped Colonial America and the United States culturally, by proving to the slaves that white people were far more superior than African Americans, religion and Cult of Domesticity. Lastly slavery shaped Colonial America and the United States politically by causing rebellions, and abolitionism.

During the 1600s, a developing Virginia experienced a severe labor problem resulting in a societal shift from a limited number of slaves to a society that became predominately powered by unpaid slave labor. The three factors associated with the shift in labor in the 1600s were attributed to the necessity for labor, cultivation of cash crops, and politics. Due to the major shift in the colonial workforce, the Chesapeake and Southern colonists with European and African descent became accustomed to extreme prejudice and divide.

In Colonial Virginia, the growing tobacco economy required ever increasing numbers of workers to manage such a labor-intensive crop. For much of the 1600s, the large portion of farm laborers consisted of European indentured servants, with the lesser portion made up of African indentured servants, and an even smaller number of slaves. This early Virginian society was surely aware of racial differences; indeed, some racial disparities did exist. For example, Europeans and Africans were often punished differently for committing the same crime. However, the majority of colonists identified with one another not on a racial basis, but on the basis of class and shared experiences, and the idea of white superiority was largely peripheral. Servants, slaves, and laborers of all races worked together, “married each other, ran away with each other, lived as neighbors,

Free and slave labor is different each other based on their characteristic of profitability in many different places. Slave labor gains more revenue from tasks that require less basic skill and flexibility in the production process. For example, if the landlord use slave labor to cultivate fresh land, it is more profitable instead of using free labour to cultivate desolated land. Moreover, the use of slave labor is based on a strict economic situation. Slavery made supplies free labors were not achieved, and the cultivation of crops such as cotton, sugar, and tobacco was possible to achieve by slave labour in the New World because the European population of the 19th century was limited. Free labor has not achieved the supply needed for large farms in the new land and they suited better for small-scale production of crops requiring professional skills which is an absolute fact that using slave labors are more advantageous to do the mass production. Therefore, slave labor was much better to stable because it was easier to control over ensuring proper production of crops (Eltis, 2000).

This was the period of post-slavery, early twentieth century, in southern United States where blacks were still treated by whites inhumanly and cruelly, even after the abolition laws of slavery of 1863. They were still named as ‘color’. Nothing much changed in African-American’s lives, though the laws of abolition of slavery were made, because now the slavery system became a way of life. The system was accepted as destiny. So the whites also got license to take disadvantages and started exploiting them sexually, racially, physically, and economically. During slavery, they were sold in the slave markets to different owners of plantation and were bound to be separated from each other. Thus they lost their nation, their dignity, and were dehumanized and exploited by whites.