Why Slavery Came to America
Tobacco is very labor intensive
• In colonial Virginia, there was plenty of
land, but not a lot of workers.
• 1st labor force was indentured servants
• Indentured servants are poor people who can’t
afford to come to North America on their own, so
they agree to work for somebody for 5-7 years in
exchange for ship passage to the New World.
Why not Native Americans?
• 1. Too Easy to escape.
• 2. Agricultural work was
women’s work in Native
societies. Therefore native
men were very reluctant to
do it.
Indentured Servants
• Indentured Servants
were worked hard
and generally treated
very badly.
• People in VA. Who
paid for indentured
servants to come
from England, got
more land (headright
system).
The Switch to Slavery
• Fewer and fewer people are willing to come from
England as Indentured Servants. Why?
– 1. Economic situation in England improves and
people can get work at home.
– 2. Word gets back to England that indentured
servants are treated pretty bad.
– Slaves begin to outnumber servants in 1670s.
African Slavery
• Slavery had existed in
Africa prior to European
exploration.
A. Africans had enslaved
other Africans when their
tribes fought.
B. The Portuguese and later
Spain were the first
Europeans to begin to use
African slaves for workers
in the New World.
What advantages are there to
having slaves rather than
indentured servants?
• 1. Slaves are for life.
• 2. Slaves produce
offspring and thus
more slaves.
Middle Passage
• Refers to the slave’s
ship voyage across
the Atlantic.
Where the Slaves Go
Triangular Trade
• Refers to exchange of
goods and people
(slaves) that were
traded from Africa, to
the Americas, to
Europe.
• Ships were never
empty.
Triangular Trade
1st Slaves Come to the English
Colonies.
• Come to Virginia in 1619
aboard a Dutch ship.
• As indentured servants
come less and less,
Virginians turn to slaves
more and more.
Review Chart
All English Southern colonies involved in large scale “cash-crop” agriculture.
Plenty of land, not enough workers.
Native Americans don’t work.
1st try Indentured servants, but they eventually become scarce.
Finally use African Slaves