HIST 405N Week 1 Discussion: The Cost of Expansion
HIST 405N Week 1 Discussion:
HIST 405N
HIST 405N Week 1 Discussion: The Cost of Expansion
Explain
... [Show More] how and why slavery developed in the American colonies. Why couldn’t colonists use indentured servants as they had in the past? How would you describe the differences between slaves and indentured servants?
Displayed: 3 Answers
Answer:
Hello professor and class:
“Because of the harsh conditions for laborers on Barbados and the high mortality of workers in the sugar fields, maintaining an adequate labor force was a serious problem” (Keene, 2013). The necessity of the labor force was the cause of the development of slavery in the American colonies. English planters were desperate looking for workers to work in the sugar field, so they first started with indentured servants as it was in the fields of tobacco in Virginia. But that was not enough to satisfy the necessity of labor in the plantations, so they had to imitate the Portuguese and Spanish and turn to slave labor. “Within the colonies of the English Atlantic world, Barbados became the primary destination for African slaves” (Keene, 2013). Indentured servants are described as people who “worked for another man until his term was served and he would become self-reliant” (Snyder, 2007). So, after their serving time they gained their freedom “once their indenture was completed the liberated servants expected to receive the “freedom dues” that they had earned through very hard work” (Snyder, 2007). Also, many of them became servants voluntarily. In the other hand, slaves didn’t have the right to decide if they want to go to the colonist. Also, they didn’t have the right to gain their freedom after a period. They were used and maltreated without their concern.
References:
Keene, J. D., Cornell, S., & O'Donnell, E. T. (2013). Visions of America: A History of the United states. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Snyder, M. R. (2007). The Education of Indentured Servants in Colonial America. Journal Of Technology Studies, 33(2), 65-72.
Discussion 2 of week 1
The colonies of New England, the Mid –Atlantic and the Upper and Lower South developed their own forms of culture, conduct and commerce. Given the choice, where would you have preferred to live?
Hello professor and class:
I would have liked to live in the Mid-Atlantic colonies, which include New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York. In Pennsylvania existed freedom of religion, where everyone had to respect others’ beliefs, “Penn intended Pennsylvania to be a “holy experiment” in which Quakers would live in harmony with those of other faiths. Penn’s “peaceable kingdom” also embraced Indians” (Keene, 2013). This was great, we need to respect others no matter their religion, culture, or skin color; we are all human beings. “Where others have seen the crucible of American society in New England, or even Virginia, they point out that, in their ethnic diversity, religious pluriformity, and partisan politics, the Middle Colonies had much more in common with the future United States” (Speck, 2003); I completely agree with this quote after reading about the other colonies I also think that the Mid colonies are the ones that most resemble this country in their ethnic diversity and freedom. Also, these regions were rich in farms, and the lands and climate were great for agriculture. They had many crops of grains and oats, which is great because food is always needed for people to survive.
References:
Keene, J. D., Cornell, S., & O'Donnell, E. T. (2013). Visions of America: A History of the United states. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Speck, W., & SPECK, W. (2003). American Colonies: Middle Atlantic. Reader's Guide to British History.
Explain how and why slavery developed in the American colonies. Why couldn’t colonists use indentured servants as they had in the past? How would you describe the differences between slaves and indentured servants?
According to Keene, Cornell, and O'Donnell, "The demand for agricultural labor in the Atlantic world created a strong market for African slaves and led to a dramatic increase in the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the late 1600s," (p.77, 2013). Many of the slaves that came to America ended up in sugar colonies. They also provided labor that was necessary to the plantations for maintaining crops. I found it interesting that less than 10% of the slaves that were shipped from African, came to the American colonies.
Indentured servants are servants that made an agreement to work a specific amount of time in exchange for their passage into America. Once they have fulfilled their agreements, then these servants could go about their lives elsewhere. The difference between slaves and indentured servants, is that slaves are property that will always be a slaves. The servants have only a certain amount of time that they work as slaves and when that time is up they can move on with their lives.
Reference
Keene, J. D., Cornell, S., & O'Donnell, E. T. (2013). Visions of America: A History of the United States. Boston: Pearson [Show Less]