Posted: May 13th, 2021

Slavery in North America Origins of slavery in North America are complicated

Slavery in North America Origins of slavery in North America are complicated. There are several theories that explain the origins and development of slavery. However, the most potent theory ties slavery to the need for labor in North America by the colonial powers. The French, Spanish and the British operated plantation agriculture in their colonies. Therefore, they needed cheap labor to maximize profits. The products that slaves produced were quite profitable for European nations such as France and Britain (Norton et al 83). This motivated the colonial powers to look for more slaves to work in the plantations. Slavery was introduced in the American colonies by the Dutch West India Company in 1625 when it imported eleven African slaves to work as farmers and builders in the present day New York City.
During the second half of the 17thCentury, improvement of the British economy led to the decline in the supply of indentured servants because poor Britons had better opportunities back in the UK. Therefore, wealthy farmers in Virginia and Maryland began to buy slaves to replace the indentured servants. Poorer planters followed this precedence. African slavery was introduced into the colony in 1670.
Different forms of slavery emerged in the American colonies. There was variation in patterns and characteristics of slavery in the American colonies, because slavery in each colony was based on the type of labor needed. The Chesapeake colonies of Virginia and Maryland had tobacco as their staple crop, which was grown in small tracks of land. The lower south colonies of Carolina and Georgia had rice as their staple crop, which was grown in large tracks of land (Norton et al 82). Northern colonies did not have a staple crop but slaveholders had small tracts of land. Therefore, the economy of lower south colonies in Georgia and Carolina was heavily reliant on slaves unlike the Chesapeake region and the northern colonies.
Commercial agriculture in the lower south regions of Carolina and Georgia were heavily reliant on slaves. Immigrants who came to this region came from Barbados and not England. Most of them had slaves in the island.
Unlike in the Chesapeake region and northern region, where slaves started as indentured servants before they became full slaves, in the lower south colonies of Carolina and Georgia they started as chattels before they became full slaves (Norton et al 80).
In the Chesapeake region, slaveholders used own small tracts of land, and owned very few slaves. The masters and the slaves developed a close relationship and used to work together. The northern region of the American colonies had a diversified economy which was not based on slaves.
Secondly, it had sufficient number of white laborers. Just like the Chesapeake region, it had smaller farms where slaves and slaveholders worked together and had a close relationship. Works cited Norton, M., Sherriff, C., Blight, D & Chudacoff, H. (2011). A People and a Nation: A History of the United States. NY:

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