Posted on 02/21/2020 12:36:50 PM PST by kathsua
Many Americans believe slavery only involved white people owning black people. They believe the master race was white and the slave race was black. North American slavery actually involved relatively rich people,[e.g. land owners] owning poor people who might or might not be of the same color.
There were two types of forced laborers brought to North America: indentured servants and permanent slaves. Most of the primarily Irish indentured servants were forced to travel to North America, but some were volunteers. The first Africans were treated as indentured servants but were eventually treated as permanent slaves. Members of the two groups worked together and the historical account indicates there was sufficient sexual contact between the two to produce a hybrid group of permanent slaves whose members could be called "black Irish".
Unfortunately,the fact that most slaves were black and most owners were white led to a belief among some whites that this situation meant blacks are inferior to whites. This belief began during the slave era in part as a way to justify treating some people as slaves in an otherwise free country.
The first Africans arrived in Jamestown in 1619 only 14 years after the founding of the settlement. During the two centuries of the Atlantic slave trade only about 500,000 additional Africans were imported into North America. Britain led the way to ending the Atlantic slave trade in 1807 and the United States quickly followed to outlaw the importation of slaves without prohibiting the internal slave trade . Initially North American forced laborers were white temporary slaves called "indentured servants" who served for a specified term such as 5-10 years. The first Africans who arrived at Jamestown were treated as indentured servants . Anthony Johnson arrived in 1620 and received some land from the Virginia colony after he was freed. In 1651 he owned five indentured servants (four white and one black. man named John Casor, who was considered a permanent slave).
The term "indentured servant" is deceptive because during their period of indenture "servants" could be brutally mistreated like regular slaves. Some owners treated much cheaper Irish indentured servants worse than ;lifetime slaves. Africans cost from 20-50 pounds Sterling compared to about 5 pounds Sterling for an Irishman.
Owners could even choose who servants would mate with like they were breeding horses. Owners might use whites to breed lighter colored slaves to be sold. Raising slaves for sale would become a signaficant part of the plantation economy. Light colored females would eventually be sold as "fancy slaves" to be prostitutes or concubines who might command a higher price than a prime field hand.
Many servants were children picked up from London streets. The exploitation of children in the North American workplace would continue into the 20th Century.
Europe didn't have a large enough population to support large scale agriculture in the Western Hemisphere when colonization began. The British used the colonies to relocate the Irish, but Ireland only had a population of 1.5 million. The Spanish use of African slaves had begun before the discovery of land available for settlement in the Western Hemisphere.
Africans had been capturing, enslaving and selling each other for thousands of years before Christopher Columbus discovered a huge new market for African slave traders. Africans continued to enslave each other after the end of North American slavery. There are reports that Africans still practice slavery.
The career of Englishman John Newton demonstrates not only that whites could be slaves, but that those who engaged in the slave trade could also be slaves. Newton was a sailor on a slave ship whose shipmates sold him to a West African slave trader because they didn't get along with him. A friend of Newton's retired ship captain father arranged to free Newton. Newton evenstually got a position as the captain of a slave ship. A religious experience convinced Newton to become a Christian minister and become active in the movement to abolish slavery. He wrote the popular hymn "Amazing Grace" which according to gospel singer Larnelle Harris uses a west African sorrow chant for the melody.
Outside of Judaism and Christianity, the history of mankind is pretty ugly.
A public school teacher in Northeast USA 45 years ago was allowed to teach this to my non-advanced History class.
The author of your blog (?you?) writes disjointed, unorganized, random thoughts.
My first ancestor in this country (before it was USA) was an indentured servant. He was Dutch, on my mother’s side, and was brought to “New Netherlands” (early 1600’s) by Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the patroon of Rensselaerwyck in New Netherlands. He was a wheelwright and wagon maker who was contracted to make 8 wagons for his master before he could work for himself. He eventually got his freedom and 100 acres of land south of Albany, NY.
I don’t recall seeing much bad press about the Buddhists either.
Give me a reason to believe an indentured servant was a slave.
Remember people didn’t live as long then as now. Your indenture could be extended for a whole host of infractions against your master\mistress. The legal system was not on your side to protect you from that. I remember reading about a female indentured servant who got her indenture extended (Don’t remember how long!) for spilling the wine.
Where and who sold slaves and where they came from
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3818053/posts
Bump
Until the last 5 years when the UN and BBC started hammering them for their oppression of Muslims in Burma.
Slavery was endemic in North America when the Spaniards discovered it. As was cannibalism, human sacrifice, and torture.
Outside of Judaism and Christianity, the history of mankind is pretty ugly.
Unless I am mistaken most of the slave owners in the United States professed to be Christian.
“Give me a reason to believe an indentured servant was a slave.”
Hmmm, let me see. The Master could beat his servant for ANY reason. The master could sell the indenturement to anyone at any time. The indenture time could be extended for almost any reason, and if the paperwork of the registration of the indenturement was lost or destroyed the indentured person would AUTOMATICALLY become a permanent slave.
Take a look at serfdom sometime. Not much better.
Your Point?
Slavery existed for many thousands of years before any Europeans came to the Americas.
Williamsburg has (or at least had) an exhibit that discussed how the first slaves in North America were the Irish and the Scotts. It was verrry dependent on who you were “indentured” to. They made it sound like most were never freed.
About 10-15 years ago a body was found buried in a basement of a very old house in Annapolis. Young male, signs of horrible physical abuse. They he assumed was a black slave. Testing showed he was from the British Isles, very probably an indentured servant.
Your Point. Americans owned 4.2 million slaves in the United States according to the 1860 census. The vast majority of slave owners were white and Christian.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=449
“During the 17th century, indentured servants suffered an appalling death rate. Half of all white servants in the Chesapeake colonies of Virginia and Maryland died within five years of their arrival. Since servants cost half as much as slaves, they were a more economical investment.”
Being a slave meant you were more likely to survive, since your owner had an incentive to keep you healthy.
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