2.6 Slavery in the British Colonies

9/17/21

Learning Objective: Explain the causes and effects of slavery in the various British colonial regions.

Theme Focus: Work, Exchange, and Technology

Slavery in the British Colonies

• Began with indentured servants

• Headright system: encouraged importation of servant workers by giving masters parcels of land for importing servants

• All colonies participated to some degree in the Atlantic slave trade

• Fueled by abundant land, shortage of indentured servants, and growing demand for goods

• Almost 7 million Africans were taken from their home and shipped to the new world to be used as slaves

• Brutal middle passage

• Chattel Slavery

• Slave codes decreed that blacks and their children belonged to white masters

• Creation of a strict racial society

• Harshest in the deep South

• Hostile climate with hard labor

• Quickly growing African population in the New World, thanks to the continued importation of slavery

Bacon’s Rebellion

• A growing class of impoverished white men, mostly former servants,

• Accused of causing disturbances

• 1676: Almost 1,000 Virginians began a rebellion, led by Nathaniel Bacon

• Retaliation against Native American attacks (because the governor had done nothing)

• Attacked and murdered Natives

• Attacked and burned the capital, chasing Governor William Berkely out

• Bacon died suddenly of disease in the middle of the rebellion

• Berkely put down the rebellion and hung more than 20 rebels

• Scared plantation owners began looking around for other labor sources

African-American Slave Culture

• Resist the dehumanizing nature of slavery

• Maintain some semblance of family unit & culture

• The blending of speech, religion, and traditions

• New York slave revolt and North Carolina slave revolt