Colonies and the Evolution of American Slavery

1. Colonies and the Evolution of American Slavery What were the distinguishing characteristics of the American colonies? How did these define the evolution of slavery? Why did some colonies begin to rely on slave labor? How did economics define slavery and class?

2. THREE DIVERSE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS DEVELOPED IN THE COLONIES • WEATHER AND CLIMATE WAS DIFFERENT IN THE NORTHERN, MIDDLE, AND SOUTHERN COLONIES • DIFFERENT GROWING SEASONS AND CROPS: • COLDER, ROCKY NORTH: SHORT GROWING SEASON; FISHING and SHIPBUILDING • MIDDLE COLONIES AS THE “BREAD BASKET” (wheat, rye) • SOUTHERN COLONIES: TOBACCO, RICE, INDIGO (labor intensive) • EACH GROUP OF COLONIES ALSO HAD A FRONTIER REGION, AND THE FRONTIERS SHARED THE SAME CHARACTERISTICS: • RURAL • OFTEN POOR, SOMETIMES RESENT RICH for TAXES • BELIEVED IN GREATER FREEDOM FROM GOVERNMENT

3. RELIGION WAS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE CREATION OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES

4. NEW ENGLAND COLONIES Majority of those settling fled persecution in England for religious beliefs differing from the Anglican Church (overseen by the King of England).

5. OVERVIEW OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES NEW HAMPSHIRE, MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE ISLAND, CONNECTICUT MOST SETTLERS CAME FROM ENGLAND (more homogeneous society) • LONG AND COLD WINTERS AS WELL AS MOUNTAINS DID NOT ALLOW FOR LARGE-SCALE FARMING • MAIN INDUSTRIES WERE LUMBERING, SHIPBUILDING, FISHING, IRON WORKS, AND WOOL PRODUCTION • MOST VILLAGES AND TOWNS WERE NEAR HARBORS OR PORTS for trading purposes

6. NEW ENGLAND ECONOMY • SOIL WAS INFERTILE WHICH LED MANY TO THE SEA TO MAKE THEIR LIVING • CODFISH FISHERIES SOON BECAME THE “GOLDMINE” OF NEW ENGLAND • WHALE HUNTING BECAME PROFITABLE • RUM FROM NEW ENGLAND USED IN TRIANGULAR TRADE ROUTES • SMALL FACTORY MANUFACTURING BECAME COMMON • BRITISH GOVERNMENT PAID BOUNTIES FOR MARITIME PRODUCTS SUCH AS PITCH, TAR, AND ROSIN

7. KING CHARLES II GAVE AWAY THE MIDDLE COLONIES TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS

8. MIDDLE COLONIES

9. OVERVIEW OF THE MIDDLE COLONIES NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA, DELAWARE • ETHNICALLY DIVERSE, ESPECIALLY ALONG THE HUDSON RIVER • WORKERS WERE RECRUITED FROM EUROPE AS INDENTURED SERVANTS at BUSY SHIPPING PORTS • LUSH FARMLAND LED TO GRAIN AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION (“Breadbasket”) LIKE WHEAT AND RYE, BEEF AND PORK • COTTAGE INDUSTRIES WERE WEAVING, SHOEMAKING, CABINET MAKING AND OTHER ARTISAN CRAFTS

10. MIDDLE COLONIES ECONOMY • CALLED THE BREADBASKET OF THE COLONIES BECAUSE OF THE LARGE AMOUNT OF GRAIN THEY PRODUCED • FORESTS PROVIDED RAW MATERIALS FOR SHIP BUILDING AND LUMBER INDUSTRIES • MANUFACTURERS ALSO PRODUCED IRON, GLASS, AND POTTERY PRODUCTS • SOME ESTATES WERE SIMILAR TO SOUTHERN PLANTATIONS BUT RELIED ON FREE LABOR AND INDENTURED SERVANTS RATHER THAN SLAVES

11. LARGE SCALE FARMING DOMINATED THE SOUTHERN COLONIES

12. SOUTHERN COLONIES

13. SOUTHERN ECONOMY • TWO DISTINCT REGIONS: TIDEWATER (CLOSE TO WATER TRANSPORTATION--WEALTHY) AND PIEDMONT (POOR) • CHIEF PRODUCTS OF THE TIDEWATER AREA INCLUDED RICE, INDIGO, AND TOBACCO • CHIEF PRODUCTS IN THE PIEDMONT INCLUDED FARMING ON A SMALLER SCALE, TRAPPING GAME, AND HUNTING • TIDEWATER RESIDENTS AND PIEDMONT RESIDENTS FREQUENTLY CLASHED (BACON’S REBELLION) AS PIEDMONT RESIDENTS FELT THEIR CONCERNS WERE IGNORED BY COLONIAL LEGISLATURES

14. OVERVIEW OF THE SOUTHERN COLONIES MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA • MOSTLY RURAL AREAS WITH LESS URBAN GROWTH • SOME RELIGIOUS TOLERATION AS THE FOCUS OF THE REGION WAS TO MAKE MONEY • THE ECONOMY WAS BASED ON THE LABOR-INTENSIVE CASH CROPS OF TOBACCO, RICE, AND INDIGO • LESS CITIES DEVELOPED IN THE SOUTH THAN IN THE NORTH; PEOPLE NEEDED TO BE MORE SELF-SUFFICIENT

15. “CASH CROPS” IN THE SOUTH INCLUDED (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT), INDIGO, RICE, AND TOBACCO

16. FRONTIER ECONOMY • EACH COLONY HAD A FRONTIER REGION WHICH IS DEFINED AS THE WESTERN-MOST BOUNDARY OF THE COLONY • MOST FRONTIER FARMS WERE SELF-SUFFICIENT (NO WAY TO GET SURPLUS CROPS TO MARKET) • SOME FRONTIER FARMERS CONVERTED THEIR SURPLUS CROPS TO WHISKEY • MANY FRONTIER FARMERS LIVED IN REMOTE AREAS WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND LIVESTOCK AND WERE IN CONSTANT DANGER OF INDIAN ATTACK

17. ENTREPRENEURS • SOME TROPICAL PRODUCTS, SUCH AS SUGARCANE, DYEWOOD, AND MOLASSES COULDN’T BE GROWN IN THE THIRTEEN COLONIES • SOME COLONISTS WERE ABLE TO MAKE A PROFIT BY IMPORTING THESE GOODS, THEN EXPORTING THEM TO OTHER EUROPEAN NATIONS AT A HIGHER PRICE • OTHER COLONISTS WERE ABLE TO MAKE A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY THROUGH LAND SPECULATION. THESE COLONISTS BOUGHT LARGE TRACTS OF LAND ON THE FRONTIER AND SOLD IT FOR A PROFIT SUGARCANE MOLASSES

18. BEGINNINGS OF SLAVERY IN THE BRITISH COLONIES • IN 1619, A DUTCH SHIP SOLD 20 AFRICAN SLAVES TO COLONISTS AT JAMESTOWN THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES • WHILE MANY OF THESE BLACKS WERE EVENTUALLY GRANTED THEIR FREEDOM OTHER AFRICAN SLAVES WERE LATER BROUGHT IN • IT TOOK SOME TIME FOR AFRICANS TO BE USED ON A LARGE SCALE AS SLAVE LABOR • THE PRICE OF A SLAVE WAS EXTREMELY HIGH WHILE INDENTURED SERVANTS WERE LESS EXPENSIVE • AS THE WEALTH OF THE COLONY INCREASED AND THE NUMBER OF AVAILABLE INDENTURED SERVANTS DECLINED OWNING SLAVES BECAME MORE ECONOMICALLY DESIRABLE

19. RELIANCE ON SLAVE LABOR • ATTEMPTS TO ENSLAVE NATIVE AMERICANS FAILED FOR BOTH SPANISH AND BRITISH • INDENTURED SERVANTS WERE CHEAPER BUT NOT COST EFFECTIVE IN THE LONG RUN • SLAVES MORE EXPENSIVE INITIALLY BUT BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT PAID OR GRANTED THEIR FREEDOM IT WAS MORE COST EFFECTIVE OVER TIME • MANY SAW AFRICANS’ BLACK SKIN AS A SIGN OF INFERIORITY

20. WHY ENSLAVE AFRICANS? • DIFFICULT IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO ENSLAVE NATIVE AMERICANS • WHITES TENDED TO FEEL CULTURALLY SUPERIOR TO AFRICANS • DISTANCE OF AFRICA TO “NEW WORLD” TENDED TO MAKE AFRICANS FEEL DISCONNECTED AND MADE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO TRY TO GET HOME AND THEY WERE UNFAMILIAR WITH THE TERRAIN IF THEY DID ESCAPE • WHITES, AS CHRISTIANS, FELT AN “OBLIGATION” TO CONVERT BLACKS TO CHRISTIANITY

21. SLAVERY IN THE NORTHERN COLONIES NONE OF THE ORIGINAL 13 COLONIES WERE FREE OF SLAVERY; HOWEVER, UNLIKE THAT OF THE SOUTH, THE ECONOMY OF THE NORTH WAS NOT BASED ON SLAVE LABOR SLAVE MARKET IN NEW YORK HARBOR

22. NEW YORK’S FERTILE HUDSON RIVER VALLEY PLANTATION AGRICULTURE WAS WORKED BY INDENTURED SERVANTS AND SLAVES • IN FACT NEW YORK HAD THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF SLAVES - 11% OF THE POPULATION AND THE BUSY PORT OF NEW YORK HAD MORE WORKING SLAVES DURING THE COLONIAL PERIOD THAN ANY CITY EXCEPT CHARLESTOWN IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE NORTH IT WAS COMMON FOR SLAVES TO BE HOUSE SERVANTS, CRAFTSMEN, AND LABORERS OFTEN WORKING ALONGSIDE FREE LABOR UNDER SIMILAR CONDITIONS

23. SLAVERY IN THE 18TH CENTURY • SLAVERY INCREASED RAPIDLY AT THE END OF THE 17TH CENTURY ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH WHERE PLANTATION AGRICULTURE WAS DOMINANT: • BRITAIN DOMINATED THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE AFTER 1713; CONTRACT TO IMPORT SLAVES TO THE SPANISH WEST INDIES • SHIPS SAILED FROM ENGLAND OR THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES WITH MANUFACTURED GOODS TO TRADE IN AFRICA FOR SLAVES (TRIANGULAR TRADE) • EVEN WITH A 10-30% MORTALITY RATE, THE TRADE WAS VERY PROFITABLE • FORTUNES WERE MADE IN BOTH THE COLONIES AND ENGLAND WHERE THE SLAVE TRADE WAS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE ECONOMY

24. Growth of Slavery in British North America

25. SLAVE SHIP • THIS DIAGRAM SHOWS THE TYPICAL LAYOUT OF HOW SLAVES WERE PACKED IN THE HOLD OF A SLAVING VESSEL • COMFORT AND SAFETY TOOK A DISTANT SECOND TO ENSURING THAT A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF SLAVES WOULD SURVIVE THE VOYAGE PROVIDING THE SLAVERS A PROFIT FOR THEIR WORK

26. BRUTAL CONDITIONS IN THE MIDDLE PASSAGE • THIS DRAWING OF SLAVES ON DECK OF A SLAVE SHIP HIDES THE UNBELIEVABLY HARSH CONDITIONS THAT THE SLAVES ENDURED DURING THE MIDDLE PASSAGE BETWEEN AFRICA AND THE CARIBBEAN • SLAVES WERE FREQUENTLY BRUTALIZED, MISTREATED AND FORCED TO LIVE FOR WEEKS ON END IN INDIVIDUAL SPACES NO LARGER THAN A GRAVE WITH LITTLE FOOD AND WATER • THE TOLL OF THESE CONDITIONS WAS HORRENDOUS AND A VOYAGE WHICH RESULTED IN LESS THAN ONE-QUARTER OF THE CARGO DYING WAS CONSIDERED SUCCESSFUL.

27. SLAVE AUCTIONS • SLAVES WERE BETTER FED AS THEY APPROACHED THE NEW WORLD IN ORDER TO MAKE THEM MORE “SALEABLE” • THEIR BODIES WERE OILED DOWN TO MAKE THEIR SKIN LOOK MORE HEALTHY AND HOT TAR WOULD BE USED TO FILL “IMPERFECTIONS” SUCH AS SCARS FROM BEATINGS AND WHIPPINGS ON BOARD SLAVE SHIPS • SLAVES WOULD THEN BE SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER

28. BLACKS WEREN’T ALWAYS SLAVES • ANTHONY JOHNSON A WEST AFRICAN WAS AN EXAMPLE OF THE AMBIGUOUS STATUS OF EARLY BLACK SETTLERS. • “ANTONIO A NEGRO," AS HE WAS CALLED IN EARLY RECORDS ARRIVED IN VIRGINIA IN 1621 AND WORKED ON A TOBACCO PLANTATION • IT IS NOT CLEAR WHETHER HE WAS AN INDENTURED SERVANT OR A SLAVE • IN ADDITION TO HIS PLANTATION WORK ANTHONY WAS ABLE TO TEND HIS OWN CROPS INCLUDING TOBACCO AND KEEP LIVESTOCK • HE MARRIED ANOTHER WEST AFRICAN AND THEY HAD CHILDREN • EVENTUALLY THEY WERE ABLE TO BUY THEIR FREEDOM AND THEIR OWN LAND • HE TOOK THE NAME JOHNSON AND HIS WIFE WAS NAMED MARY.

29. BY 1650 THEY OWNED 250 ACRES IN VIRGINIA AND IN 1665, THEY MOVED TO MARYLAND, WHERE THEY LEASED A 300-ACRE TRACT OF LAND • ANTHONY DIED FIVE YEARS LATER AND MARY RENEGOTIATED THE LEASE FOR ANOTHER 99 YEARS. • THAT SAME YEAR, A COURT IN VIRGINIA RULED THAT, BECAUSE "HE WAS A NEGRO AND BY CONSEQUENCE AN ALIEN," THE LAND OWNED BY JOHNSON (IN VIRGINIA) RIGHTFULLY BELONGED TO THE CROWN • IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT JOHNSON OWNED AT LEAST ONE SLAVE • THERE IS A COURT RECORD IN WHICH A NEIGHBOR TRIED TO TAKE THE SLAVE AWAY BY ARGUING THATJOHNSON HIMSELF WAS BLACK BUT THE COURT SIDED WITH JOHNSON TOBACCO FIELD

30. THE JOHNSON FAMILY STORY SHOWS THAT RACE WAS NOT INITIALLY THE MAJOR FACTOR FOR DETERMINING SLAVE STATUS UNDER THE LAW • IN FACT RACIAL LINES WERE NOT CLEARLY DEFINED UNTIL THE LATE 1600s WHEN INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE BECAME A CRIME • LAWS WERE ALSO PASSED THAT MADE IT A CRIME FOR MINISTERS TO MARRY INTERRACIAL COUPLES • SUBSEQUENT LAWS DEFINED PEOPLE AS BLACK IF AT LEAST ONE GRANDPARENT WAS BLACK • BY THE TIME THE REVOLUTION BEGAN INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE WAS ILLEGAL THROUGHOUT THE COLONIES AND THIS CEMENTED RACE-BASED SLAVERY IN AMERICA.

31. BLACKS AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE ENTIRE POPULATION 1770

32. VIRGINIA REGULATED SLAVERY

33. SLAVE REVOLTS • MAJOR SLAVE REBELLIONS OCCURRED FROM THE BEGINNING OF EUROPEAN COLONIZATION THROUGH THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAS AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY • BY CONTRAST DOCUMENTED SLAVE REVOLTS IN THE 13 COLONIES AND LATER IN THE UNITED STATES WERE RARE AND SMALL-SCALE BUT WHEN THEY OCCURRED THEY PROMPTED HYSTERIA, VIOLENCE AND REPRESSION FROM SLAVEHOLDERS