The Emergence of Slavery

A. Background 1.There is a long history of slavery in the world. In the ancient world, prisoners of war became slaves, such as in Roman society. 2.Later, people from the Russian steppes were enslaved, thus earning the name slavs from which we get the word slaves. 3.An African slave trade existed from ancient times with black slaves being sold in Africa and throughout the Mediterranean area.

The Emergence of Slavery B. When the Spanish discovered the gold, silver and gems in America they took what was already mined, but then searched for the places that the Indians found these materials. When they found these places, they needed workers to mine them.

The Emergence of Slavery C. They also discovered that sugarcane grew well on the islands in the Caribbean. Sugar was the equivalent of oil today in terms of net worth. Thus, they needed workers to grow the sugarcane.

The Emergence of Slavery D. There was not enough free labor (colonists) coming over to do the jobs. Thus, they turned to slavery. E. First Indians were enslaved, but made poor slaves for 2 reasons: 1.They could escape easily and run back to their people. They were hard to recapture. 2.They died en masse due to European diseases.

The Emergence of Slavery F. The Spanish then turned to Africa for slaves. Merchants began supplying African slaves to the Spanish in return for American goods. This became known as the triangle trade because the triangular trade route.

The Emergence of Slavery 1.Traders would load European goods on their ships to trade with the Africans in return for slaves. 2.Then they took the slaves to America and traded them for molasses, sugar, tobacco, etc. 3.Then they returned to Europe and exchanged the American goods for European goods and started the route over again.

The Emergence of Slavery G. Using African slaves in America was successful for three reasons 1.They had nowhere in which to run. 2.They had basic immunities to European diseases. 3.Many also had a natural immunity to malaria due to a DNA mutation. Even the Europeans did not have this. This was very helpful in the mosquito-infested swamps where sugarcane grew.

The Emergence of Slavery II. Slavery in the English Colonies A. The Southern colonies' economy was based on labor- intensive crops meaning they required many workers to produce them. These included tobacco, rice, and indigo (as was sugarcane for the Spanish). The problem was that they could not get people to work for them due to the availability of free land. Why work for someone else when you can farm for yourself? Rice Tobacco Indigo

The Emergence of Slavery The following is the formula that explains the reason for the shortage of labor in the Americas. MUCH CHEAP LAND + LABOR-INTENSIVE CROPS = SHORTAGE OF LABOR MUCH CHEAP LAND LABOR- INTENSIVE CROPS SHORTAGE OF LABOR Why do I want to work for you? I can get my own land. We need workers for doing all this work. We can’t grow crops on all of our land & maximize profits if we can’t get more workers.

The Emergence of Slavery B. The English went through the same basic process as the Spanish: 1.Try to hire workers (no luck except with some indentured servants) 2.Make slaves out of the Indians (same results) 3.Buy African slaves (same success) Wanted Good field hand for rice farm in the Georgia colony. Good pay.

The Emergence of Slavery C.Why slavery? 1.Although slaves were very expensive, slavery solved an economic need/problem. 2.Slavery was not the best answer, nor a moral answer, but it was an answer to a problem. 3.Thus, people did not buy slaves because they were lazy but because they were greedy.

The Emergence of Slavery D.Why did slavery occur mainly in the South? 1.The Middle Colonies had non labor-intensive crops (wheat). 2.The New England colonies had no real commercial farming. 3.Thus, neither area needed slaves and so slavery never really developed there.

The Emergence of Slavery Commentary Slavery was an expedient solution to a problem. However, expediency is no excuse for immoral behavior. By choosing slavery, our ancestors doomed us to live out the consequences of their decision which still haunt us today, almost 400 years later. We should let this sad chapter of our history remind us that the decisions we make today can affect our heirs far into the future.