American History

Within the colonies each had to provide a source of profit. Because of the different climates with the colonies, each colony produced a different crop. The Chesapeake region did not turn to Africans specifically at first to do the labor. The attempt to put the natives to work failed. After the failure with the natives they resorted to using British indentured servants. More Africans, still free, were beginning to arrive and they too served as indentured servants. The first enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown in 1624, these 11 men were the beginning of what would turn out to be something no one expected in the new world. (Clark Hine, et al. 40)

The demand for profit within the colonies made the labor demand higher. More Africans were being shipped over and used for their labor. The English settlers began to fall in love with the idea of hard labor with no pay. 1640 became a major turning point for the Africans (Tomlinson lecture, Jan. 10, 2013). Though Africans and whites were both used as indentured servants, race was beginning to play a serious role. After the people in the new world realized that they could turn black indentured servants into slaves, things turned for the worse. They were taking advantage of the enslaved Africans to the maximum. The time of indentured servants was beginning to turn into a time of slavery. As Britain gained increased control over the Atlantic slave trade, Africans became less costly (Clark Hine, et al. 36).

With the growing population of Africans came the fear of rebellion. No one wanted the blacks, who now made up most of the population, to have an opportunity to strike. The blacks every move was controlled by some law, some restriction, or some master. The initial attempt to provide profit from the colonies was no longer the reason for enslavement. The profits needed to be met were more than met. The people were becoming greedy with all the money they were making. They were benefiting so well from the slave labor of the blacks. The benefits outweighed the fact that they were treating these people as nothing more than property.

Slavery developed so greatly after 1640. The incident in which this was really brought to light was when three indentured servants fled from there master, two white and one black.

The two white men were given a punishment of a few more years of servitude. The black male, John, was given servitude for life (Slavery and the Making of America: the Downward Spiral). This was around the time when people were beginning to realize that indentured servitude was inferior to lifelong servitude, slavery. The transformation from indenturing to enslaving was inevitable. The rights of the free indentured blacks were being taken away from them. There were no more free Africans being brought to work as indentured servants, only enslaved Africans brought to work long and hard for little to nothing under harsh conditions.

To sum it all up, slavery was a method