Did the United States inherit slavery from the British Empire?

Grok ^

[ProgressingAmerica]

Yes, the United States inherited the institution of chattel slavery from the British Empire, as it was already well-established in the British colonies of North America long before the American Revolution and independence in 1776–1783.

Historical Context

The first recorded arrival of Africans in the English colony of Virginia occurred in August 1619, when an English privateer ship (the White Lion) brought "20 and odd" Africans—seized from a Portuguese slave ship—to Point Comfort (near modern-day Hampton, Virginia). These individuals were initially treated as indentured servants rather than lifelong chattel slaves, but this event marked the beginning of African forced labor in the English mainland colonies. Over the following decades, the system evolved into full chattel slavery (hereditary, race-based, and treating people as permanent property). Key developments under British colonial rule included:

By the mid-17th century, laws in Virginia and other colonies formalized slavery, such as rules making the status of children follow that of the mother (partus sequitur ventrem, starting around 1662 in Virginia).

Indentured servitude (mostly white Europeans) gradually gave way to African slavery as a cheaper, more controllable labor source for tobacco, rice, and indigo plantations, especially after events like Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 heightened elite fears of unrest among white servants. By 1700, slavery was entrenched across the colonies, with slaves replacing most indentured labor in the South. Every British North American colony had enslaved people to varying degrees, though it was most concentrated in the Chesapeake and later the Deep South.

British merchants (from ports like Bristol and Liverpool) dominated the transatlantic slave trade that supplied the colonies, and the British Crown granted monopolies like the Royal African Company. Slavery formed a cornerstone of the British Empire's economy in the Americas, including the Caribbean sugar islands, which influenced practices on the mainland.

At Independence

When the 13 colonies declared independence in 1776, they inherited a colonial system where slavery was legal and economically vital, particularly in the South. The U.S. Constitution (1787) implicitly recognized and protected it through provisions like the Three-Fifths Clause, the Fugitive Slave Clause, and a delay until 1808 on banning the international slave trade. Slavery was not "created" by the United States as an independent nation; it was a direct continuation of British colonial practices.

Slavery existed in many societies worldwide long before (including among Native American groups, in Africa, the Islamic world, and earlier European colonies by Spain and Portugal), but the specific system in what became the U.S. was shaped by English/British colonial law, trade networks, and plantation models—especially influences from Barbados and other Caribbean holdings.

Divergent Paths After Independence

Britain: Continued the slave trade until abolishing it in 1807 and slavery itself in most of its empire via the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 (effective 1834 in many colonies, with an "apprenticeship" transition period). Slavery had never been legal on the soil of England itself (confirmed in the 1772 Somerset case), but it persisted in colonies.

United States: Banned the international slave trade in 1808 (effective alongside Britain's ban), but allowed the domestic trade to flourish. Slavery expanded dramatically with the cotton gin and westward settlement, leading to its entrenchment in the South until the Civil War (1861–1865) and the 13th Amendment in 1865.

In short, the U.S. did not invent or originate slavery in its territories—that was already underway under British rule for over 150 years by the time of independence. The new nation inherited, expanded, and eventually fought a war over the system it received from its colonial predecessor. Claims that America "created" slavery overlook this colonial timeline.

[PeterPrinciple]

Mat 17:25 ........................ Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered? “

[PeterPrinciple]

Mat 17:25 ........................ Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered? “

[FLT-bird]

Back in 1607 when Jamestown was founded EVERYBODY on the entire planet practiced slavery. When the 13 colonies seceded from the British Empire in 1776, EVERYBODY on the entire planet practiced slavery. Slavery was the norm. Everywhere. It had been the norm everywhere as far back as written records go. Slavery was not unusual. It dying out in the West during the 19th century is what is unusual.

[Judge Bean]

Many of us are slaves to our own animal souls and are never truly free. That is the origin of slavery.

[ProgressingAmerica]

"Time to get over it."

What are you talking about? It's time to CeLeBrAtE!!! it.

It is not the time to play cover up, it is not the time to cower in fear. Why should we have fear? Let them have fear. They're the ones who are wrong. We are not wrong. What are we getting over? There is nothing to "get over".

[escapefromboston]

Slavery existed since the Dawn of civilization

[ProgressingAmerica]

The judge presiding was a crown-appointed judge.

Why did the crown do this?

The crown wanted slavery in these colonies/states.

No matter how you cut the cake, the U.S. is correct and all slavery points back at the Empire.

[ProgressingAmerica]

These are not the facts.

The time for us to be cowards is over. It’s finished. We have no reasons to be fearful and tuck our tails between our legs anymore.

The time for us to be bold and speak truth to power with strength is now. Right now. We inherited slavery from the British Empire. Full Stop.

[ProgressingAmerica]

And here I thought you were going to debunk my claim but instead you provided 4 pieces of proof for me.

So thank you for that.

[ChronicMA]

Definitely a worldwide practice.

Even if you focus on just slavery that was in the new world, the colonies that became the USA received less than 10% of slaves transported in the middle passage. Brazil, the West Indies, and other non-British mainland colonies got more than 90%.

And don’t forget about the restriction in the US constitution that forbade ending the slave trade before 1808.
Obviously the only reason that clause was included was because when the constitution was being written in 1787 there was already a push to end slavery (the clause was a defensive measure to protect slave proponents)

[ProgressingAmerica]

This is just fear and cowardice. That is all.

These colonies, all 13 of them, were controlled by the crown. It should not require much effort to state the simple fact here.

[ProgressingAmerica]

“Even if you focus on just slavery that was in the new world”

Let’s just focus on slavery in the 13 colonies.

Why is everybody so damn fearful about this? Where is this insane fear coming from?

Why does everybody tuck their tails and run and hide? Why??????

[Round Earther]

“If the slaves had been counted as 1 person each, the slaves states would have had more representatives in the US House and more electoral votes for president.”

The South could have easily resolved that conundrum by extending voting rights to the human beings they were holding in bondage.

[rlmorel]

I have always believed that yes, we did “inherit” it from England, but at the same time, I can also give England credit for banning it and taking active military measures against the trade.

I feel both are true.

[Vermont Lt]

Stuff like this is a leftist way to try to make white Americans feel guilty about the slave trade. Don’t let it work.

Slavery in the US was banned in the 1860s. My relatives walked to Virginia and one of them died over this crap.

I will not entertain any effort to make me responsible for what is fast becoming old American history.

So…the answer to the question posed in the headline is: I don’t care.

[jeffersondem]

“Slavery is the Empire’s original sin? No, slavery goes back to the beginnings of society.”

African slavery began in Africa.

That is why I cannot celebrate Kwanzaa.

[dkGba]

Definitely time to get over it. We can thank BHO, since that demonic 💩 was “elected” probably by dead people, illegals and DEI enthusiasts in 2009 it’s all we ever hear about.

[Judge Bean]

Yes, and it is still practiced there by millions.

[ProgressingAmerica]

I think this is a fair wording but we all need to grab our AA chips and remember to keep sobriety in mind.

Delaware was not a colony of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome. South Carolina was not a colony of Bangladesh. We have two options here, and only two. That's it. Two options.

1.The United States, [or more generically, America.]

2.The British Empire.

The hate America progressives will always blame America and no evidence will matter.

But realistically, this isn't even a case of making some junk up and looking to scapegoat Sarajevo to protect the U.S. or to scapegoat Saudi Arabia to protect the U.S.

The Empire really did this. The evidence really does damn them and it really does exonerate the United States, exonerate the Founding Fathers, and exonerate Americans in general.

I am convinced people are entirely fearful about this. I do not understand why there is so much cowardly lionness on this.

I do not understand. The Empire really actually literally did this. They are actually the guilty ones.

In being cowards, we are welcoming the progressives to blame us when it is not our fault. We are inviting our own destruction. Why? Why? Why? I cannot understand. It does not compute.

[ProgressingAmerica]

"Stuff like this is a leftist way to try to make white Americans feel guilty about the slave trade"

The opposite is the truth.

By pointing out that the Empire is to blame and not the United States, that allows Americans to begin identifying with Abolitionist Pride such as the Abolitionist Founding Fathers.

Clearing out the gunk allows you to see the shiny metal. This is very simple.

"I will not entertain any effort to make me responsible for what is fast becoming old American history."

Me either. America was the solution to the problem. The slavery question. That was the Empire who was at fault. America was the good guys and America deserves to be treated as the good guys.

"So…the answer to the question posed in the headline is: I don’t care."

So…the answer to the question posed in the headline is: I don’t care I want to roll over in fear and let the progressives win.

There I fixed it for you.

That's exactly how I see it. When you tuck your tail inbetween your legs, when you go run away and hide and cower in fear looking for the tallest grass you can find so as to not be seen, all you're doing is letting the progressives win.

You should be helping us beat the progressives. Instead, you're unreliable, instead your unavailable, instead you're just absent.

Nature abhors a vacuum. What is filling the vacuum you have created? Progressive victory.

Stop being fearful.

Get.

A.

Grip.