1
Running Head: Slavery vs. Indentured Servitude
Slavery vs. Indentured Servitude
Chamberlain University
HIST405N: U.S History
This study source was downloaded by 100000849840424 from CourseHero.com on 07-14-2022 19:55:45 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/44429193/CaseStudySlavery-Vareladocx/
, 2
Running Head: Slavery vs. Indentured Servitude
After colonization started to become more stable in America and the colonists began tobacco
farming, they soon realized that tobacco leaves were hard to maintain. At this time, they noted
that farmers couldn’t keep up with the massive amount of workload needed to turn up a decent
profit, which led them to investing on indentured servants. After time, there was a shift in
indentured servitude. Slowly, slavery began to become a notable institution by Plantation owners
that were on the lookout for cheaper labor and more wealth (OpenStax, 2019). Thus, in this paper
I will be explaining how and why slavery developed in the American colonies, ways the practice
of slavery was different between each colonial region in British North America, and the
differences between slaves and indentured servants.
Slavery in America started when the initial slaves from Africa were taken to the North
American colony. According to U.S History (2019), Virginia would become the first British
colony to legally establish slavery in 1661. Maryland and the Carolinas were soon to
follow. However, the primary African Americans that touched base in Jamestown in 1619 on a
Dutch exchanging boat were not slaves; they were indentured servants [ CITATION USH19 \l
1033 ]. Indentured servants were contracted between five to seven years and assisted in growing
tobacco in the Chesapeake colonies (Openstax, 2019). In return, they “received paid passage to
America and food, clothing, and lodging (Openstax, 2019).” Moreover, since the African
Americans helped immensely with the economic foundations of the new nations, this led to an
increase on importation of slaves [ CITATION USH19 \l 1033 ]. Thus, by the eighteenth century
African slaves numbered in the tens of thousandths in the British colonies.
African slave labor was vital for the economic life of British North America. Rather than
using slaves as primarily agricultural labor, the North trained and diversified its slave force to
This study source was downloaded by 100000849840424 from CourseHero.com on 07-14-2022 19:55:45 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/44429193/CaseStudySlavery-Vareladocx/
Running Head: Slavery vs. Indentured Servitude
Slavery vs. Indentured Servitude
Chamberlain University
HIST405N: U.S History
This study source was downloaded by 100000849840424 from CourseHero.com on 07-14-2022 19:55:45 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/44429193/CaseStudySlavery-Vareladocx/
, 2
Running Head: Slavery vs. Indentured Servitude
After colonization started to become more stable in America and the colonists began tobacco
farming, they soon realized that tobacco leaves were hard to maintain. At this time, they noted
that farmers couldn’t keep up with the massive amount of workload needed to turn up a decent
profit, which led them to investing on indentured servants. After time, there was a shift in
indentured servitude. Slowly, slavery began to become a notable institution by Plantation owners
that were on the lookout for cheaper labor and more wealth (OpenStax, 2019). Thus, in this paper
I will be explaining how and why slavery developed in the American colonies, ways the practice
of slavery was different between each colonial region in British North America, and the
differences between slaves and indentured servants.
Slavery in America started when the initial slaves from Africa were taken to the North
American colony. According to U.S History (2019), Virginia would become the first British
colony to legally establish slavery in 1661. Maryland and the Carolinas were soon to
follow. However, the primary African Americans that touched base in Jamestown in 1619 on a
Dutch exchanging boat were not slaves; they were indentured servants [ CITATION USH19 \l
1033 ]. Indentured servants were contracted between five to seven years and assisted in growing
tobacco in the Chesapeake colonies (Openstax, 2019). In return, they “received paid passage to
America and food, clothing, and lodging (Openstax, 2019).” Moreover, since the African
Americans helped immensely with the economic foundations of the new nations, this led to an
increase on importation of slaves [ CITATION USH19 \l 1033 ]. Thus, by the eighteenth century
African slaves numbered in the tens of thousandths in the British colonies.
African slave labor was vital for the economic life of British North America. Rather than
using slaves as primarily agricultural labor, the North trained and diversified its slave force to
This study source was downloaded by 100000849840424 from CourseHero.com on 07-14-2022 19:55:45 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/44429193/CaseStudySlavery-Vareladocx/
