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?

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THREE DIVERSE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS DEVELOPED IN THE COLONIES

WEATHER AND CLIMATE WAS DIFFERENT IN THE NORTHERN, MIDDLE, AND SOUTHERN COLONIES; THIS MEANT DIFFERENT GROWING SEASONS AND ENCOURAGED DIFFERENT TYPES OF CROPS

THE COLDER TEMPERATURES IN THE NORTHERN COLONIES MEANT AN EXTREMELY SHORT GROWING SEASON WHICH LED THOSE COLONIES TO SPECIALIZE IN FISHING

TYPES OF SOILS ALLOWED FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF FARMING, WITH THE MIDDLE COLONIES BECOMING THE “BREAD BASKET” AND THE SOUTHERN COLONIES SPECIALIZING IN TOBACCO

EACH GROUP OF COLONIES ALSO HAD A FRONTIER REGION, AND THE FRONTIERS SHARED THE SAME CHARACTERISTICS

RELIGION WAS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE CREATION OF THE NEW ENGLAND

COLONIES

NEW ENGLAND COLONIES

COLONY NAME

YEAR FOUNDED

NAME OF FOUNDER

MASSACHUSETTS 1620 PURITANS

NEW HAMPSHIRE 1623 JOHN WHEELWRIGHT

CONNECTICUT 1635 THOMAS HOOKER

RHODE ISLAND 1636 ROGER WILLIAMS

NEW HAMPSHIRE, MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE ISLAND, CONNECTICUT

LONG AND COLD WINTERS AS WELL AS MOUNTAINS DID NOT ALLOW FOR LARGE-SCALE FARMING

MOST SETTLERS CAME FROM ENGLAND

MAIN INDUSTRIES WERE LUMBERING, SHIPBUILDING, FISHING, IRON WORKS, AND WOOL PRODUCTION

MOST VILLAGES AND TOWNS WERE NEAR HARBORS

IN THE EARLY YEARS LIFE WAS REGULATED BY STRICT RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

OVERVIEW OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES

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

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

MIDDLE COLONIES

COLONY NAME

YEAR FOUNDED

NAME OF FOUNDER

PENNSYLVANIA 1682 WILLIAM PENN

DELAWARE 1638 PETER MINUET (NEW SWEDEN)

NEW JERSEY 1664LORD BERKELEY & SIR GEORGE CARTERET

NEW YORK 1664 DUKE OF YORK

NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA, DELAWARE

ETHNICALLY DIVERSE, ESPECIALLY ALONG THE HUDSON RIVER

BUSY SHIPPING PORTS

LUSH FARMLAND LED TO GRAIN AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION LIKE WHEAT AND RYE, BEEF AND PORK

COTTAGE INDUSTRIES WERE WEAVING, SHOEMAKING, CABINET MAKING AND OTHER ARTISAN CRAFTS

ADDITIONAL WORKERS WERE RECRUITED FROM EUROPE AS INDENTURED SERVANTS

OVERVIEW OF THE MIDDLE COLONIES

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

• BECAUSE OF THE FERTILE SOILS OF THE MIDDLE COLONIES A GREAT AMOUNT OF VARIED TYPES OF GRAIN WAS PRODUCED THERE

• THE MIDDLE COLONIES NOT ONLY PROVIDED GRAIN FOR THEIR OWN USE BUT EXPORTED TONS OF IT TO OTHER COLONIES AND BRITAIN.

THE “COLONIAL BREADBASKET”

LARGE SCALE FARMING DOMINATED THE SOUTHERN COLONIES

SOUTHERN COLONIES

COLONY NAME

YEAR FOUNDED

NAME OF FOUNDER

VIRGINIA 1607 VIRGINIA COMPANY

MARYLAND 1634 LORD BALTIMORE

NORTH CAROLINA 1653 VIRGINIANS

SOUTH CAROLINA 1663EIGHT NOBLES (CHARTER FROM CHARLES II)

GEORGIA 1732 EDWARD JAMES OGLETHORPE

MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA

THE ECONOMY WAS BASED ON THE CASH CROPS OF TOBACCO, RICE, AND INDIGO

CLASS DIVISION BETWEEN VERY WEALTHY AND POOR

RELIANT ON SLAVE LABOR

SOME RELIGIOUS TOLERATION AS THE FOCUS OF THE REGION WAS TO MAKE MONEY

THE ATLANTIC OCEAN SERVED AS THE MIDDLE PASSAGE FOR THE SLAVE TRADE

MOSTLY RURAL AREAS WITH LESS URBAN GROWTH

OVERVIEW OF THE SOUTHERN COLONIES

SOUTHERN ECONOMY

TWO DISTINCT REGIONS: THE TIDEWATER (CLOSE TO WATER TRANSPORTATION) AND THE PIEDMONT

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

THE PIEDMONT

THE PIEDMONT AREA TENDED TO BE LESS AFFLUENT THAN THE TIDEWATER AND MOST LIVED ON SMALL

FARMS, TRAPPED, AND HUNTED GAME

THE TIDEWATER

THIS DRAWING OF A TIDEWATER PLANTATION HIGHLIGHTS ITS CLOSENESS TO WATER AND ITS SIZE

BUILT IN 1732 THE SHIRLEY PLANTATION LOCATED IN VIRGINIA IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A TYPICAL

PLANTATION HOME

LESS CITIES DEVELOPED IN THE SOUTH THAN IN THE NORTH WHICH MEANT THAT PEOPLE NEEDED TO BE MORE SELF-SUFFICIENT IN THEIR HOMES AND IT ALSO MEANT FEWER ROADS AND HIGHWAYS WERE NEEDED

PLANTATIONS TENDED TO SPRING UP ALONG RIVERS AND STREAMS

THE SOUTHERN ECONOMY WAS RELIANT ON INDENTURED SERVANTS AND THEN SLAVES

THE PLANTATION SYSTEM

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

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

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

BEGINNINGS OF SLAVERY IN THE BRITISH COLONIES

• IN 1612 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

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

RELIANCE ON SLAVE LABOR

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

WHY ENSLAVE AFRICANS?

•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

SLAVE SHIP

• 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.

BRUTAL CONDITIONS IN THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

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

SLAVE AUCTIONS

• 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.

BLACKS WEREN’T ALWAYS SLAVES

• 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

TOBACCO FIELD

• 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 THAT JOHNSON HIMSELF WAS BLACK BUT THE COURT SIDED WITH JOHNSON

• 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.

1662 LAW ALLOWING LIFE SERVITUDE FOR BLACKS. MULATTO CHILDREN INHERIT THE CONDITION OF THEIR MOTHER, EITHER SLAVE OR FREE.

1667 LAW DECLARES THAT BAPTISM DOES NOT BRING FREEDOM TO BLACKS

1669 LAW PERMITTING THE MURDER OF SLAVES: "IF ANY SLAVE RESIST HIS MASTER AND BY THE EXTREMITY OF THE CORRECTION SHOULD CHANCE TO DIE, THAT HIS DEATH NOT BE ACCOMPTED FELONY."

1670 LAW FORBIDS FREE BLACKS AND NATIVE AMERICANS, "THOUGH BAPTISED," TO OWN CHRISTIAN SERVANTS.

1680s VIRGINIA SLAVE CODES• PRESCRIPTION OF THIRTY LASHES ON THE BARE BACK "IF ANY NEGROE OR OTHER SLAVE SHALL PRESUME TO LIFT UP HIS HAND AGAINST ANY CHRISTIAN." • DEVELOPMENT OF A SEPARATE LEGAL CODE PROVIDING DISTINCT TRIAL PROCEDURES AND HARSHER PUNISHMENTS FOR NEGROES. • SEVERE PUNISHMENT FOR SLAVES WHO LEAVE THEIR MASTER'S PROPERTY OR WHO HIDE OR RESIST CAPTURE.

1691 BANISHMENT FOR ANY WHITE PERSON MARRIED TO A “NEGROE” OR MULATTO; SYSTEMATIC PLAN TO CAPTURE "OUTLYING SLAVES.”

1705 “ALL NEGROE, MULATTO, AND INDIAN SLAVES SHALL BE HELD, TAKEN, AND ADJUDGED TO BE REAL ESTATE.” DISMEMBERMENT OF UNRULY SLAVES MADE LEGAL.

VIRGINIA REGULATED SLAVERY

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

SLAVERY IN THE NORTHERN COLONIES

SLAVE MARKET IN NEW YORK

HARBOR

• IN 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

BLACKS AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE ENTIRE POPULATION 1770

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

% BLACK

New Hampshire

Massachusetts

Rhode Island

Connecticut

New York

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

Delaware

Maryland

Virginia

North Carolina

South Carolina

Georgia

• 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 WHEN THE BRITISH WERE AWARDED A CONTRACT TO IMPORT SLAVES TO THE SPANISH WEST INDIES GIVING AN IMPORTANT BOOST TO THE TRADE

• SHIPS SAILED FROM ENGLAND OR THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES WITH MANUFACTURED GOODS TO TRADE IN AFRICA FOR SLAVES

• 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

SLAVERY IN THE 18TH CENTURY

• 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

MAJOR SLAVE REVOLTS COLONIAL PERIOD1663 - GLOUCESTER COUNTY, VIRGINIA

BLACK SLAVES AND WHITE INDENTURED SERVANTS PLOTTED A REBELLION BUT WERE BETRAYED TO THE AUTHORITIES AND SEVERAL PLOTTERS WERE BEHEADED

1712 - NEW YORK CITY

TWENTY-FIVE ARMED SLAVES BURNED DOWN HOUSES ON THE NORTHERN EDGE OF NEW YORK CITY AND KILLED NINE WHITES AND SOME REBELS WERE KILLED BY SOLDIERS WHILE OTHERS WERE TORTURED AND EXECUTED.

1739 – STONO, SOUTH CAROLINA

EIGHTY SLAVES SECURED ARMS AND MARCHED TOWARD FLORIDA. THEY WERE ATTACKED BY THE MILITIA AND IN THE ENSUING BATTLE 44 BLACKS AND 21 WHITES WERE KILLED.

1741 – NEW YORK CITY

THIRTY-ONE SLAVES AND FOUR WHITES WERE EXECUTED AFTER RUMORS (NEVER SUBSTANTIATED) OF A MAJOR SLAVE REBELLION SWEPT THROUGH NEW YORK CITY.

SLAVE REVOLTS