Slavery Comes to North America

Slavery Comes to North America, 1619

Slavery is an important topic when examining American history. It is more than 400 years since slavery come into North America, but even today, slavery lingers in the U.S. A recent report by Global Slavery Index (2018) indicates that the practice of slavery is still widespread in America with more than 400 thousand people living in slavery. This practice continues to have an impact in America. In fact, the founding of the American economy has its roots in slavery, and this practice one way or another shaped and continue to shape American politics. As such, understanding the roots of slavery in North America is important in comprehending how far we have come as a country.

Late 1619 gave birth to the greatest paradox of America’s founding, slavery in the midst of freedom. During this time, the first 19 or more Africans touched the American soil at Point Comfort near Jamestown in Virginia (Schneider & Schneider, 2014). These men and women came from Africa involuntarily, forced to a ship and sailed into the unknown. These initial African slaves were transported to North American by British privates, who grabbed them from a seized Portuguese ship carrying slaves (Schneider & Schneider, 2014). Their arrival in the English colony marked the beginning for many years filled with endurance, tragedy, survival and a legacy of oppression, resilience, and inequality.

This was a period in which the British were establishing their colonies in North America. In 1607, the first British colony was established in Jamestown, Virginia (Corbett, Janssen & Lund, 2017). The arrival of John Rolfe, a British colonialist, in Virginia in 1609 was important to the colony since he introduced tobacco as a commercial crop. Virginia colony boomed following the profitability of tobacco growing. Tobacco growing was labor-intensive, and those who worked in the tobacco farms were indentured servants. These people were from England and offered their labor in exchange for passage to American colonies (Corbett et al., 2017). However, indentured servants became scarce while the Atlantic slave trade was growing. As such, African slaves were found to provide cheap labor to replace indentured servants. The expansion of the slave trade at the time and increasing tobacco growing in the Virginia colony gave birth to slavery in North America.

Looking at American history, slavery is at the core. Slavery was a national system that shaped every core of American economic and political life. The arrival of the first Africans in 1619 in Virginia was the turning point of slavery in the history of America. At every least, it is a landmark in the long slavery history in British colonies in North America. Slavery was important in establishing the economic position of American society as capitalism (Beckert & Rockman, 2016). They provided hard labor in the British colonies, and even when, America gained independence, the slaves continued to provide hard labor for the newly found America. The slave economy has ripple effects throughout the American economy. Slavery did not only shape the American economy but politics as well. Thus, it is important to examine the origin of slavery in the US to understand its impact in today’s American society.

Part 2

Slavery Comes to North America, 1619 Outline

Title: Slavery Comes to North America, 1619

Thesis: The year 1619 is a landmark marking the beginning of slavery in America, shaping the American economy and politics.

I. Introduction

a. Various slavery forms have existed in every society in recorded history. In North America, the British colonists did not invent slavery, but other European nations which expanded slavery from African shores to Europe and to the Western world. Slavery in North American began in 1619, with the first African arriving at Point Comfort near Jamestown in Virginia. Life realities in North America, exploitation, violence, and the need for workers were soon driving ta thriving slavery practice. Slavery was a fundamental part of the economy in America, and soon after, it had influence in American politics. As such, slavery is important in early American history due to this practice’s influence in the American economy and politics.

b. Thesis: The year 1619 is a landmark marking the beginning of slavery in America, shaping the American economy and politics.

II. Slavery began in 1691, following the first Africans’ arrival at Point Comfort near Jamestown in Virginia (Schneider & Schneider, 2014).

a. The slaves came from Angola in West Central Africa.

b. The British privateers in the Gulf of Mexico stole the slaves from a Portuguese ship

c. More than 19 Africans were sold on arrival in Virginia.

d. Slavery began a period in which the British were establishing colonies in North America (Corbett et al., 2017)

e. In 1607, the first British colony was established in Jamestown, Virginia.

f. In 1609, John Rolfe, a British colonialist, arrived in Virginia and introduced tobacco for commercial use.

g. Tobacco was labor-intensive, and soon the demand for labor soared as indentured servants became scarce.

h. Atlantic slave trade soon provided slaves for the tobacco farms.

III. Before slavery, the British colonies relied on indentured laborers to provide labor for their colonies (Corbett et al., 2017).

a. Indentured laborers provided labor and in return gained passage to and settlement in British American colonies.

b. Indentured laborers were of British origin.

c. Also, convicts, as indentured laborers, were transported from Britain to American British colonies to provide labor.

d. The indentured laborers worked for four to seven years after which they gained passage to the American economies and become permanent settlers.

IV. The increasing desire for cheap labor in the British American colonies intensified the Atlantic slave trade, which supplied the colonies with slaves (Schneider & Schneider, 2014).

a. The British American colonies were basically agricultural, tobacco, cotton, sugar, and rice.

b. Labor was needed to maintain and statin plantations in the New World.

c. West Africa became the prime source of slaves to provide free labor in the American colonies.

V. Slavery helped build the American economy (Beckert & Rockman, 2016)

a. Agricultural American society depended on slavery for labor

b. The slaves toiled in tobacco, cotton, rice, and sugar plantations

c. Profits from the sale of agricultural goods in Europe and trade of these goods in Africa were used in purchasing more slaves who worked on the plantations

VI. Slavery has a considerable impact on American politics (Acharya, Blackwell & Sen, 2016)

a. The Republic Party emerged as a result of slavery matters

b. Whites in the South identify as Republican, opposing affirmative action and cold feelings towards African-Americans.

c. Differences in political attitudes in America trace their origins to slavery.

d. These attitudes are passed down generations

VII. Conclusion

a. Since the beginning of slavery in 1619, it has shaped the American economy and politics

b. Slavery began in 1691 following the arrival of the first Africans in Virginia

c. During this period, the British were establishing their colonies in America

d. Slaves were needed to offer cheap labor

e. The slaves worked in plantations, shaping the American economy

f. Differences in political attitudes in America have their origin in slavery.

References

Beckert, S., & Rockman, S. (Eds.). (2016). Slavery's capitalism: A new history of American economic development. University of Pennsylvania Press.