Chapter 3 Black People in Colonial North America
Chapter 3 Black People in Colonial North America, 1526 -1763
Ch. 3, Sec. 2: “The Peoples of Eastern North America” n Complex relationships between black people and Indians existed in early America n Race mixing between both groups early on was common
The British and Jamestown (p. 73) n First permanent British colony in North America (1607) n Tobacco was a profitable crop, but labor intensive – “Undesirables” from England can do it! – Indentured servants – most often white until 1700
Ch. 3, Sec. 2: “Africans Arrive In the Chesapeake” n August 1619 - Dutch ship arrives with Africans – Colony considered them “Unfree, ” not slaves because the English • had no law for slavery and • were forbidden to enslave Christians (some of these Africans had been converted!)
1619 Landing of Negroes at Jamestown from a Dutch Man-of-War
Black Servitude In the Chesapeake (p. 76) n Indentured servants – Sold their labor (2 -7 years) for passage to region – High mortality ~ most died before term expired (due to overwork and/or disease) – Included both blacks and whites • • Only skin color distinguished early laborers Worked, lived, and slept together as “unfree” Earned freedom at the end of term Anthony Johnson is an example (p. 77)
Curing Tobacco SOURCE: Courtesy of the Library of Congress This eighteenth-century woodcut shows enslaved black men, women, and children engaged in the steps involved in the curing of tobacco.
Indentured Servant Contract
Black Servitude In the Chesapeake (p. 76) n Slowly the idea, “that persons of African descent were alien” took hold in the Chesapeake area leading to n Chattel slavery – Slaves were legal private property on a level with livestock!
Race and Origins of Black Slavery (p. 77) n Race and class shaped the character of slavery – Believed Africans were inferior to English (like the Irish and Native Americans before) – By 1640 s Africans could not • bear arms • become Christian – Discrimination in colonial policies
The Emergence of Chattel Slavery (p. 79) n From “unfree” to slave for life – Mid-17 th century men, women, and children served masters for life – Slavery followed the mother
The Emergence of Chattel Slavery (p. 79), cont. – Slave codes (1660 -1710) aimed to control and exploit • owning property, making contracts, leaving without a pass • Christianity offered no protection against enslavement This is the form of slavery that remains in effect until the American Civil War!
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