American slavery during colonial America

Answer

American slavery during colonial America

Introduction

            One of the most difficult topics to tell is slavery in the United States despite the fact that it played a key role in building the nation. Slavery involved movement of people from Africa to the United States mainly to work in large tobacco rice and/or indigo plantations. Slave trade created one of the greatest diasporas in the history of mankind due to the number of people that were moved from Africa to the United States of America.   The number of Africans moved to the United States as a consequence of slave trade was estimated to be between 9 to 12 million (Middleton and Lombard,495). 

The history of slave trade is often told from the point of view of the Europeans and rarely or never from the point of view of the Africans who were victims of the trade (Middleton and Lombard,495). Slave trade involved inhuman treatment of the slaves, torture, hard labor and cruelty among others(Anburey,1).   Inhuman and degrading slave codes were enacted by the colonial administrators to control slaves and they partly formed the genesis of racism in America. Racism is often argued to have had its origins in slave trade. The abolition of slave trade is usually accredited to a small group of Europeans but not the Africans who were victims of the trade (Middleton and Lombard,496).

Thesis statement

Slavery during colonial America was marked by a surge in the population of black slaves working in tobacco, rice or indigo plantation firms. Slaves were subjected to inhuman treatment by white masters and many lost their lives in the process. Slaves codes were introduced to manage the growing slave population to ensure they do not become a threat to low and order. The slave codes enacted by colonial admiration and the structures put in place probably formed the genesis of racism.

The three main features of slavery during colonial America

            One of the key aspects that characterized American slavery was inhuman treatment of slaves, hard labor and cruel torture. Large plantation owners in Chesapeake around 1680 were involved in large scale faming of tobacco whereas in South Carolina they were in plantation of rice and later indigo (Middleton and Lombard,495). There was a huge demand for tobacco, rice and indigo in Europe which provided a ready export market for American settler populations. Labor beyond what a single family could provide was required to enable the plantation owners grow adequate cash crops to satisfy the export market. African slaves were the most ideal source of labor as white land owners were unable to use native American labor or slave labor from Europe (Middleton and Lombard,495).

 The white farmers were afraid of native Americans as they did not want to start a war with indigenous tribes. Native Americans also knew the terrain very well and could therefore escape easily. Being white also made it difficult to trace among the free white population when they escaped. Young Europeans by that time had lost interest in pursuing opportunities in colonial America as Europe seemed to offer better opportunities for growth. The large plantation owners had only one choice to obtain labor to operate their farms and that was buying slaves from Africa (Anburey,1).

            Slaves from Africa offered the best source of labor as they were readily available.  Plantation owners bought slaves from slave traders who brought them from Africa.  Slaves were treated inhumanly in these farms when they were bought. They were woken up at dawn to start working on the farms under strict supervision of white masters or overseers.  The food they were provided with was insufficient and unhealthy, many wore ragged clothing and a sizeable number worked while naked.  They worked for many hours per day without being given time to rest and even worked into the night. The slave masters were cruel and subjected many of them to sexual assault, murder and other forms of inhuman treatment (Middleton and Lombard,503).  Slave legislation passed as early as 1664 stated that slaves were required to serve as slaves throughout their lives and even children born of slaves were to serve in the same way as their parents.  The mistreatment of slaves started from capture and even transportation to the Americas.  Slaves were separated from their family members and usually ended up working in plantations with total strangers. Those who got sick or were found to have any form of weakness during transportation were thrown overboard into the Atlantic Ocean (Middleton and Lombard,494). 

            The second aspect of American slavery was slave codes.  Slave codes were laws passed by authorities to manage slaves, their relationship with the whites and maintain peace and order among others. However, these codes were very oppressive to the African slaves and virtually left the slaves at the mercy of their masters. Their masters could do anything they wanted with them with no repercussions whatsoever from the authorities.  The slave codes developed racial ideologies in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  These slave codes effectively separated whites from African slaves (Middleton and Lombard,495). 

One of the legislation passed in Maryland in 1664 provided that slaves would serve their white masters in their entire lives as slaves and so would their children do.  The legislation further forbade inter racial unions and any white woman who married a slave was to become a slave and so would her children (Middleton and Lombard,495).              Children born out of slave unions were to become slaves themselves when they grew up. This separated whites from black slaves otherwise known as negroes.  These slave codes prevented negroes from obtaining freedom or moving up in the society. Europeans considered African slaves as descendants of Ham in the Bible, one of the descendants of biblical Noah who was cursed. This narrative was played throughout the slave areas as a way of intimidating the slaves to accept their status and be obedient.  Slave codes passed in some states such as Virginia in 1705, reduced all Africans living in Colonial America to slaves for life unless they were already free by the time the code was enacted.  Social distancing codes were put in place during the time to prevent African slaves from interacting with the white population (Middleton and Lombard,498). 

The colonial administration prepared the system of laws to control slaves as the plantation economy resulted in an increase in the number of slaves in the colonies.  In some of the colonies white women were prohibited by law from having sexual relations with slaves.  Slave codes were motivated by growth in the number of African slaves in the colonies (Middleton and Lombard,504).  There was also a growing fear that as African numbers grew larger, the threat of retaliation against white masters would increase and could become a reality.  To prevent slaves from engaging in conspiracies and insurrections, many colonial administrations enacted laws aimed at punishing slaves for such activities (Hening,130). 

Slaves were to be put to death in Virginia for such violations. Whipping, nailing by the ear and having their ears cut off was a punishment for perjury in Virginia.  Slaves were also banned from meeting unless they were attending a divine service with their masters in attendance.  Except for slaves freed for meritorious service, mainly reserved to reward black informers, no other slave was to be freed according to these slave codes (Middleton and Lombard,501).  Informers were to be rewarded for informing authorities of serious conspiracies by slaves that they got wind of.  In Pennsylvania, any slaves found in a meeting of more than four were to be whipped severely. In short slaves could not congregate in a meeting of up to three without the permission of their owners(Hening,130).

These slave codes ensured as far as possible civil society was out of bounds to African slaves.  Another slave code that was really disadvantageous to slaves was passed in Virginia in 1692, which prevented slaves from asserting their right to a trial by a jury or right to appeal if convicted in the event they were accused of committing crimes considered capital offences by the authorities (Middleton and Lombard,495).  Special courts were created in South Carolina to try slaves using summary processes for capital offences.  In effect slaves were denied civil rights by these slave codes.  Laws were enacted which prevented blacks from owning guns, voting and even meeting. Blacks were even seen as incapable of converting to Christianity and even those who got baptized were still to continue serving as slaves. Moving freely on public roads was also prohibited unless slave masters permitted it(Hening,130).

Slaves were also not permitted to carry out rituals and ceremonies in secret as all such activities had to be sanctioned by slave masters.  To further degrade their status, legal punishments were made even more callous.  For instance, slaves could have their noses slit and their faces burned if they showed violence to a white person according to a South Carolina Law passed in 1691.  In Virginia, a slave striking a white person could receive up to 39 lashes but the offence was labeled a capital crime in South Carolina (Middleton and Lombard,499).   The law in South Carolina permitted punishment for certain category of crimes to include castration and burning of slaves when still alive.  In essence the legal system in colonial America removed slaves from its protection and put them squarely under their slave owners with no checks at all(Hening,130). 

Slave masters were legally immune from prosecution for any acts of violence towards slaves.  In fact, a slave owner who killed a slave in the course of beating could not be penalized or charged in court according to a Virginia law of 1669. The reasoning was that since the slave was his property the slave owner could only destroy his property is the reason was good enough.   The public therefore sanctioned humiliation, torture, flogging and removal from families of slaves by slave masters or overseers.  Toes of slaves were even cut as punishment for disobedience that was considered persistent in Virginia as at 1708.  Some slaves had their limbs amputated for running away from their slave masters (Middleton and Lombard,508).

            The third aspect of American slavery was institutionalized racism. Racism could be argued to have begun during the slave era.  Around 1700, slave traders started transporting slaves directly from West Africa to the ports of North America.  Unlike previous slaves from West Indies, these slaves had no previous experience with the white man. These slaves appeared more foreign to the plantation owners(Hening,130). They filled their teeth, had initiation ritual scars, had many face tattoos and wore clothing that appeared very strange. These slaves practiced traditional African religions and adorned traditional hairs styles.  The Europeans did not understand them at all.  These slaves were marked as heathen as they spoke no English (Middleton and Lombard,508). 

The planters treated these new arrivals as outsiders, gave them less responsibilities and treated them at arm’s length mainly because they did not understand them and were skeptical of them. They placed them in poorly constructed shacks and hence did not house them well which isolated them from the whites(Anburey,1). Opportunities for maneuver were restricted by the legal system which further isolated these slaves from the whites.  The colonial white settlers transformed to slave societies by this time. To further compound the problem of racism, blackness was associated with sin, pollution and everything vile.   Whites justified their actions towards the slaves by arguing that the slaves were descendants of Ham, the cursed son of Noah of the Bible (Middleton and Lombard,495).

 The slaves were purported to be suffering from that curse.  Around the same time European scientists started advocating for physical differences such as color of the skin to be used as a basis of classification of people which exacerbated the problem of racism.  The scientists advanced the view that certain classes possessed certain intelligence and character traits different from others which compounded the problem of racism as slaves were placed on the lower rank than whites on every trait (Middleton and Lombard,498).  The legal system and the new developments in racial ideologies created the perfect environment for racism to grow.   All civil rights of blacks were taken away by the legal system which exacerbated the problem of racism.  Poor whites were enlisted by the colonial administration to enforce the slave codes. These all white militias were responsible for enforcing slave codes, catching runaway slaves and punishing slaves who were deemed disobedient.  Since all slaves were black, law breakers were assumed to be black and since all militias were white, law enforcers were assumed to be white.  Race was therefore the basis of American slavery during colonial era in America (Middleton and Lombard,503).

Conclusion

            Three of the main aspects of slavery were the inhuman treatment, torture and cruelty towards slaves, institutionalized racism and degrading slave codes.   During the 1600 and 1700s the economy of colonial America region was growing and needed laborers who would work more efficiently. The native Americans proved unsuitable for plantation work leaving plantation owners with no option but to focus on African slaves.  The large number of African slaves bought made the region appear more like a negro country than a white country. This increase in Negros increased diversity too as well and also created fear among the white population.

The Africans shipped from the 18^th century practiced their religion from their native African homeland. These slaves traditionally styled their hair, filed teeth, and wore clothes considered strange by the whites. Their bodies were embedded with scars and tattoos that Europeans could not understand and spoke strange languages.  Idolatry and atheism is what whites associated these people with. These slaves were clearly different from the Europeans or other white slaves that were in the area before. Due to these differences the white masters began to treat the new arrivals suspiciously and as if they were sub human.  The white masters enacted slave codes which took away their rights and condemned them to lifelong servitude. Slaves suffered unthinkable atrocities and were subjected to outright racism which begun then and continues to the present period.

            All these attributes are suspected to have been the introduction of racism in America.  Europeans associating blackness with pollution, sin and evil and hence Negros were subjected to racism by the authorities. The Europeans believed Noah’s curse to his son Ham in the Bible, had taken root in Africa which led to enslavement of Africans.  However, this was not the only reason used to justify racism. Classifications based on physical features and mechanisms used to enforce the slave codes also contributed to that.