Slavery+in+the+American+Colonies

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Before there was slavery in the American Colonies, there were indentured servants. Africans and Poor white people were both indentured servants. An indentured servant was like a slave, but well treated, well fed and after a certain period of time, they would be given freedom and sometimes land. Quite possibly the first slave in the American Colonies was a man named John Punch, an indentured servant who ran away from the Virginia plantation where he worked. His punishment was "serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural life," according to PBS. In short, he was a slave. Soon, the Elite land owners felt a threat from the freed indentured servants. Servants could move on, and that would create a need for a costly replacement. Slaves, like ones that could by their skin color, would not move on and be less costly. In 1641, Massachusetts was the first colony to recognize slavery. In 1662, Virginia made a decision that all children born to slave mothers would be enslaved. Slavery was now a part of the American Colonies. -Neal Brethauer

//Slave Trade //

The Slave Trade had been around for about four centuries. The American Colonies had slaves, but had never used the Slave Trade on a large scale before. There were about three ways to get labor for farms. Colonists could import indentured servants from Europe, capture Native Americans, or import Africans from Spanish and Portuguese Slave Traders. All three were used, but the importing of Africans began to increase dramatically in the 1700 hundreds. The American Colonies used slaves everywhere, but the southern colonies had more use for slaves and the slave trade. The Slave Trade had a beginning, middle and end type of process. The beginning was when the Africans were in their homes, living their lives when the Slave Traders came and captured them. The end was when they were working on a farm or plantation or if they had ran away. When the Traders came, they demolished the village, chained young and healthy Africans and took away elders and disposed of them. The captured Africans were marched to a coastal fort and were underfed and beaten on the way. When they reached the fort, Africans were put into dungeons to wait for a ship to take them somewhere to be sold. On the ship, the living conditions were horrible. They were chained in spots that were too small and disease spread quickly. The Africans were still beaten with whips and under fed. When they reached the American Colonies, they were on boxes where an auction took hold. When an African was bought, they were taken to the farm or plantation where they would work. -Neal Brethauer