Slavery
Essay by review • February 10, 2011 • Essay • 667 Words (3 Pages) • 1,140 Views
Slavery was caused by economic factors of the english settlers
in the late 17th century. Colonists continually tried to allure
laborers to the colony. The headright system was to give the
indentured servant, a method of becoming independent after a number of
years of service. Slavery was caused by economic reasons. Colonists
chiefly relied on Indentured Servitude, inorder to facilitate their
need for labor. The decreasing population combined with a need for a
labor force, led colonists to believe that African slaves were the
most efficient way to acquire a labor force that would satisfy their
needs.
Before the 1680's, Indentured Servitude was the primary source
of labor in the newly developed colonies. After the 1680's, the
population of the Indentured Servants decreased, exponentially. Their
were a number of different reasons why the population of Indentured
Servents had decreased. The indentured servents were running away from
their temporary masters, to find a job where he could become more
independent. Indentured servents were also dying of many diseases,
which was caused by harsh conditions. The immigration of servents thus
declined, because
of the people in England being informed of the harsh
treatment in the colonies. The society was where the land was easy to
find, while the labor was most scarce. Indentured servitude, was a
form of labor which was declining, and the need for labor increased
rapidly.
In the 1600's, when tobacco was founded by John Rolfe, tobacco
became the main source of income for most of the colonists. The
economic prosperity of the colonies was primarily dependent on the
amount of tobacco produced. The growing of tobacco, needed a large
amount of land, with a large stable work force. The increased demand
for a large, stable work force combined with the availability of
African slaves, led to the use of slavery in the colonies. During the
late 17th century, the indentured servants were running away from
their masters farms, if a slave had run away from their master's
farms, then the slave would be easier to discern because of the color
of his skin. To the planter, slavery was the ideal form of labor that
would be most beneficial to productivity of his crop.
Planters had an abundance of land and a shortage of labor.
This relationship,
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