Development of Slavery in Virginia
In this assignment, I’m going to discuss the development of slavery in Virginia. To prove this, this paper will provide details of how slavery began in Jamestown after the capture of the Portuguese ship. Also, this paper will give details of the arrival of slaves in the New World through to 1705. I will also discuss how other southern states perceived slavery and whether only blacks were enslaved or not.
To start, slavery began in the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia. African slaves had been captured from Angola in central western Africa by the Portuguese. The Portuguese ship was captured by the Dutch as she neared her destination. In 1619, John Rolfe purchased Virginia’s first black slaves from a Dutch shipper (Gillon, 48). At the time, sugar production required a lot of labour and the Irish indentured servants were unruly. Also, the harsh tropical climate and poor working conditions dissuaded many indentured servants from working in the sugar plantations (Gillon, 46). Therefore, the colonizers preferred the African slaves since they did not claim landholdings after a few years of labour. Also, the African slaves were genetically protected from the deadly malaria that afflicted New World settlements in recurring waves (Gillon, 46). The Dutch continued to provide a steady supply of African slaves to the New World settlements and other southern states. As we can see, clearly, African slavery spread fast because it was a source of cheap labour to the English colonizers.
Other southern states gradually started purchasing African slaves. At first southern states did not have clearly defined laws concerning slavery. Whereas the Virginia assembly declared that no master could whip a servant without his or her permission, the bill was silent on how black slaves were to be punished by their masters (Gillon, 49). The Caribbean, however, made clear laws regarding black slaves. Every black person in Barbados was a slave and slaves were prohibited from testifying against free people in the court of law (Gillon, 47). In 1664, Maryland made a slave legislation that stated that all negros should serve as slaves for life as should their children (Gillon, 48). All colonies supported slavery because the labour was much needed in the vast plantations.
As the planters adopted slavery, black slaves worked alongside indentured servants (Gillon, 48). However, indentured servants became an unreliable source of labour. The law required that servants were entitled to landholdings after several years of serving. Therefore, the indentured servants left as soon as they found places that had higher chances of acquiring land (Gillon, 48). With time, only black people were enslaved because they were not entitled to landholdings. Also, only blacks were enslaved because they came at low prices, and the Dutch ensured a continuous supply.
Slavery in Virginia was introduced when Rolfe bought slaves from a Dutch. When the English planters realized that black slaves were a source of cheap labor, they made intensified slavery and even made laws regarding slaves. Southern America states highly depended on the cheap labor provided by the black slaves.