Difference Between Slavery And Indentured Servitude

Though we think of the act of slavery as a horrendous act now, slavery and indentured servitude are very important aspects of how our nation came to grow and flourish the way it did. When colonists first moved to the British colonies, they were trying to find a way to make money. They couldn’t mine for gold and silver like the Spanish in South and Central America. They began to try to grow tobacco, but the tobacco they grew in the North East didn’t taste good and was bitter. They stole tobacco from the Spanish colonies and brought it up to the North-Eastern farmers. This tobacco was much sweeter and much more desirable to the colonists, and very desirable to the people back in Europe. However, growing tobacco is very difficult …show more content…
They were Christian or Englishmen first. They would also classify themselves based on social class. Englishmen believed they had the right to enslave not Christians. They didn’t even specifically choose Africans. The Africans just proved to be the best workers, and there were lots of them in Africa (Africans in America). When people were brought over from their country, if they were not Christians in their home countries, they were automatically considered slaves. We often think slavery happened all at one time, but really it happened slowly. They didn’t just all the sudden implement slavery. It was a slow gradual process. They would add a law here or there to make things legal or outline different aspects of the slave trade. And it slowly spreads through the …show more content…
They paid more upfront, but they could feed the slaves much less and give them much less equipment and clothing. They didn’t really worry if the slaves lived very long because it wasn’t difficult to go buy another or force a few of the female’s slave to reproduce because that gave them more laborers. Slavery did not become significant in the colonies until the end of the 17th century. Until then, it only made up a small portion of the population and workforce. By 1776, slaves made up 20% of the population in the 13 colonies (Teaching History). Slavery was most popular in the South, where the crops there required much more labor to produce, but there were still lots of slaves in the North. Some large cities were 20% or more made up of slaves (Teaching History). Most Africans living in Chesapeake were used to farm tobacco. Farming tobacco is extremely labor intensive, so slave labor was used even though there were doubts about the morality of it. In Chesapeake area, slaves made up nearly 50-60% of the population (History). England officially got involved in the slave trade in 1672. It created the Royal African Company, which would trade goods with Africa for slaves. Parliament then ruled that any Englishmen can participate in the slave