Research Paper on Slavery to Jamestown

Introduction

Slavery refers to a system in which others can own individuals, the owners control all aspects of their subjects' livelihood and are forced to work for no pay. Slavery is the condition of an individual whereby they are unable to exercise their own free will. A slave is considered the property of their master and can be bought or sold. Slaves have no power to withdraw from the arrangement unilaterally. In the modern world, slavery can be defined as any situation in which a person is forced to work against their own free will. However, in some societies, depending on laws and customs, slaves may have some limited rights. Slavery has been in existence throughout history. Slavery reached its peak in Greece and the ancient Roman Empire but declined in the middle age. In the 16th and 17th, as Europeans colonized the World, slavery increased (Davis).

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During the 19th century, changing moral attitudes led to decrease in slavery. The U. S government banned the practice of slavery in 1865. Today almost every recognized country in the world has outlawed slavery within its borders. However, some form of slavery still exists in some African, Asian and South American nations. Some of the acts of slavery even in practice today include human trafficking, sexual slavery, and wage slavery among others (Washington).

There were different types of slaves depending on the type of forced labor they did. These types included:

1. Tobacco slaves - these consisted of most of the African- Americans in Chesapeake. These slaves worked on the labor-intensive tobacco plantations.
2. Farm Slaves - these are slaves who grew food crops on farms. Their work was less tedious but was as demanding as that of tobacco slaves. Slaves who worked on farms and plantations enjoyed the advantage of living in complete family units and having Sunday off days unlike those in urban settings. However, their disadvantage as they were more likely to be sold or transferred.
3. Plantation Slave Women - These are women who worked on plantations.
4. Urban and domestic slaves - most of these were women. They were not allowed to live full family units.

The first Africans in Virginia arrived in August 1619. A warship from the Netherlands docked at Jamestown with about twenty negroes onboard. These negroes together with the ship were exchanged for food. At first, they were referred to as indentured servants. An indentured servant refers to an individual contracted to work for another individual for a set time-period without remuneration but with the promise of being granted passage to another country. It was not until 1680 when the modern racial slavery emerged. In those early days of slavery, African American slaves were very few. The first census of Jamestown in 1625 listed ten slaves. Other scholars attribute the first slaves in Jamestown to two pirate ships from England. The pirates abducted a Portuguese cargo ship carrying slaves acquired from Angola and with plans to sell them in Mexico. The pirates instead transported the slaves to Jamestown, Virginia. By then, explorers from Portugal had been practicing slave trade for over a decade while the Spanish held Indians captive to work as miners and farmers (Bernhard).

Until 1659, there were no laws to govern slavery in Jamestown. The significant rise in slave trade did not also start until the beginning of the 18th century. Between 1660 and 1669, after the civil war in England ended, the demand for slaves in Virginia shot up since the supply from England by the Royal African Company was not satisfactory. By 1689, slavery had become an essential component of the economy(Bernhard).

By 1776, the number of slaves in the American colonies had reached the 500,000 mark (Johnson). Slavery was an accepted legal institution in the U. S, and it was viewed as ethical. In Jamestown, slaves were used on tobacco farms and as servants. Tobacco farming is labor intensive. Every slave working on a tobacco farm could have processed (planting seeds, digging up seedlings, planting seedlings on the farm, etc.) about 10,000 plants a year. English colonists began distinguishing between the social status of white indentured servants and black indentured servants. In 1639, the colony of Maryland enacted a law dictating that Christian baptism was not enough for a slave to become a free person (Davis).

The first definite sign of enslavement in Jamestown was witnessed in 1640. This was when three indentured servants (one negro and two whites) escaped from their master, got arrested, and served with different sentences based on skin color. The white servants had their indentured contracts extended by four years each while the negro was sentenced to a lifetime of indenture just because of his skin color. This occurrence is viewed as the first legally documented instance of slavery. It marked the first sign of differential treatment between black servants and whites and also the first action by the courts in Jamestown encouraging slavery. In other cases, white masters took advantage of the illiteracy of their black indentured servants by dishonoring the expiration of their contracts (Davis).

In the year 1642, the colony of Virginia enacted a law to find those who helped to escape slaves in any way. Of the U. S states, Jamestown was the primary site where black slavery grew. The colony passed a law that allowed blacks to be enslaved generation after generation. Native Americans were also not spared from the fast-growing wave of slavery as millions were also imprisoned. By 1739, a quarter of the slaves in American colonies were either the creek, the Cherokee or other natives (Bernhard).

By 1650, the population of Virginia was approximated at around 30,000, of these 300 or 1% were Africans. These were not slaves but rather indentured workers along with the approximately 4,000 white indentured workers laboring to gain passage to Virginia. They would be rewarded with 50 acres of land once through with their indentures to enable them to start farming by themselves. They, however, had to pay for surveyors to patent their property. Between 1671 and 1679, the number of blacks in Virginia was around 3,000, and by 1704, it was upwards of 10,000 (Washington).

By 1660, most slaves were male and lived on plantations they worked on with one to three others. There were regular interactions with their masters, and racial restrictions were not so rigid. However, by the year 1680, the concept of 'slave' was more explicit, and racial restrictions became stricter. By the year 1710, the average slave owner owned about eight slaves and the percentage of women slaves was increasing thus introducing the possibility of having slave families (Bernhard).

By 1669, the government of Virginia had established the color based legal framework for lifelong service. "Every year between 1667 and 1672 the General assembly enacted legislation which increasingly defined a Virginian's status by skin color. Similar laws followed in 1680, 1682, and 1686. By the final decade of the seventeenth century, those characteristics most associated with the plantation society of the eighteenth century were already evident." These laws imposed bans on interracial marriages, and sexual relations and also deprived blacks of the right to own property. Other laws barred blacks from possessing weapons or even traveling without written permission (Davis).

In 1669, the colony of Virginia declared that killing a slave while administering punishment was not a crime. The settlement also barred masters from freeing their slaves unless they were deporting them. The whites of Virginia also voted against interracial marriages, and severe consequences such as disownment or banishment were imposed (Indian, African or mulatto).

As these more rigid laws of racial slavery were being implemented, the status of white servants was also being improved. White servants could not be whipped while naked by their masters, unlike black slaves. According to historian Edmund S. Morgan, the hardening of racial lines positively influenced the commitment of white men to equal distribution of resources, liberty, and egalitarianism (Washington).

In 1676, the conflict between upcountry farmers, coastal planters, and landless former indentured laborers led to violence. This incident is remembered as the Bacon's Rebellion. Aggrieved backcountry farmers who were convinced that the colonial government had failed to protect them from Indians started a revolt led by Nathaniel Bacon (a wealthy landowner). They burnt the colony's capital, Jamestown, destroyed their enemies' farms and promised freedom to any indentured servant who joined their movement. Bacon died in the midst of the revolt after suffering from dysentery. Devoid of Bacon's strong leadership skills, the uprising collapsed, but most masters chose to replace their white servants with black slaves fearing servant unrest (Bernhard).

Most of the slaves in Virginia were imported through the Carribean islands rather than shipping them directly from Africa. Barbados was the primary source of slaves for Jamestown. In 1680, the then acting Governor of Virginia said that negroes brought to Virginia were generally imported from Barbados for it was scarce to have a negro ship come to this Country directly from Africa (Washington).

The slave trade in Virginia lasted for nearly 250 years until Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S constitution was amended in 1808 to prohibit slavery. "The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress before the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person." (U.S Constitution)

There is still an ongoing debate on what preceded the other between racism against blacks and the adoption of a legal framework advocating for lifetime enslavement in Virginia. Some theorists argue that practice of slavery instigated the racist attitudes of colonists while others say that racism existed even before the concept of slavery was adopted. The effects of slave trade have haunted African-Americans for decades.

Conclusion

The period of slavery is widely regarded as one of the darkest moments throughout the years of existence of humankind. In the United States, Virginia was the first colony in which black slavery was recorded. Toward the end of the 17th-century slavery was gradually institutionalized through the enactment of several discriminatory laws. These laws continually made a life for blacks unbearable. Blacks were systematically denied their fundamental rights, and failure to adhere to the dictates of white masters often led to a severe punishment which could even be in the form of whipping to near death. It even reached a point where killing a black slave in the process of punishing them was not against the law. Black women would also be forced into sexual escapades with their masters.

It is of the essence to pay tribute to these people who in spite of their unbearable living conditions and the harsh treatment from their masters dared to remain kind inside and even at times some tried to understand their masters. Also though the master-slave relationship was different for different cases, it stayed unilateral whereby the only side with a say was the masters' side. Regardless, this has served as one of the most important lessons for humanity - it is not possible to possess supremacy over a fellow human being.

Works Cited

Bernhard, Virginia. Slaves And Slaveholders In Bermuda, 1616-1782. University Of Missouri Press, 1999.

Davis, David Brion. The Problem Of Slavery In Western Culture.

Washington, Booker T. Negro Progress In Virginia. University Of Virginia Library, 1997U.S Constitution