The following is a summary of the first two chapters of Peter Kolchin's American Slavery: 1619-1877.
The economies of the British colonies that would eventually become the United States were not originally significantly dependent upon the slavery of uprooted Africans. "The initial demand for labor that eventually led to slavery was...color blind." Many Native Americans were made slaves by the English colonists. However, their widespread enslavement was rendered impossible by epidemics which wiped out large numbers of them; many others were killed in battle with European settlers. (8, 14)
More important was the large number of indentured servants that emigrated from Europe. Indenturing, essentially synonymous with apprenticing in the Old World, evolved to encompass a variety of arrangements in the New World. Some servants were simply kidnapped, and others were apparently sentenced to indentured servitude for criminal behavior. But the majority came voluntarily. They agreed to provide a number of years of labor--four, five, seven--in exchange for transatlantic voyage. Kolchin refers to this arrangement as "temporary slavery." "During their indenture, servants were essentially slaves, under the complete authority of their masters; masters could (and readily did) apply corporal punishment to servants, forbid them to marry, and sell them (for the duration of their terms) to others." Before the widespread introduction of African slavery later in the century, European laborers constituted "the basis of the seventeenth-century work force in the southern two-thirds of the English mainland colonies...". (Presumably the agricultural workforce of the north was composed mostly of those who owned the land they worked.) (7-9, 14)
In the late seventeenth century, economic upturn in England combined with the diminishing of opportunities in the New World (as land became less available), to bring about a decrease in the availability of indentured servants. "In short...selling themselves into indentured servitude in America no longer seemed like a very attractive proposition to many English subjects." At the same time, demand for labor was rapidly increasing as terms of indenture expired. Interestingly, hiring former servants as wage laborers does not appear to have been considered an option. (11-12)
The diminishing of the availability of European servants occurred just as the supply of African slave labor increased. African slaves were present in the British colonies as early as 1619. Because the Portuguese and Dutch dominated the slave trade, however, "the English colonists found slaves expensive and hard to obtain." This changed following the Anglo-Dutch war (1664-1667). It was therefore in the late seventeenth century that large-scale importation of African slaves to the English colonies began. (11-12)
Kolchin points out "additional, if subsidiary, reasons for preferring slaves to servants." Native Americans were familiar with the land which facilitated their escape. And white servants could flee their indenture and disappear into the colonial population. Africans, however, were wholly unfamiliar with their new home and racial characteristics hindered flight by distinguishing them as probable slaves. In addition, slaves were of course held permanently. (8, 13)
Kolchin places the development of slavery in colonial America within a larger context. "[U]ntil the nineteenth century unfree status of one type or another...was the lot of much of humankind." And he also points out that the American South "represented the northernmost outpost of" the plantation system of commercial agriculture that Europeans developed in the Western hemisphere. (4-5)
According to Kolchin, historians debate whether or not white prejudice caused slavery or whether or not slavery resulted in the development of racist attitudes toward blacks. He writes that the more appropriate question is "how slavery and prejudice interacted to create the particular set of social relationships that existed in the English mainland colonies." (14)
Before the widespread use of slave labor by the colonists, the English held three attitudes regarding blacks which facilitated their enslavement. First, "it is highly significant that the English saw Africans as black and themselves as white" because each term had symbolic meaning. "Blackness" suggested immorality, and of course whiteness implied purity. Second, Africans were viewed as uncivilized savages by whites. And finally, Africans were not Christians. "[I]n an era when being the wrong kind of Christian put one in mortal danger in most of Christendom (including most of the English colonies), being a non-Christian automatically put one beyond the pale." These attitudes were not essential to the enslavement of Africans however. Even as sexual contact with whites produced light-skinned blacks; as acculturation diminished the perceived "savagery" of blacks; and as blacks converted to Christianity, slavery persisted. (14-15)
Africans were treated differently than indentured whites, but at first only "marginally differently". However, the position of whites improved. The desire to attract voluntary immigrants limited the harshness with which masters could treat white servants. And as agricultural labor was more and more the fate of black slaves, and as colonial economies boomed, whites performed more skilled forms of labor. As slavery spread dramatically at the end of the seventeenth century, the oppressed status of slaves and of the few free blacks was enshrined in laws across the colonies. (15-17)
There were three distinguishable economic regions in colonial America. Slavery was legal and existed in all of the colonies. But in the north, where there was far less commercial agriculture than in the south, slaveholdings tended to be small--no more than three or four. In the upper south, or Chesapeake region, tobacco was the staple crop and slaveholdings tended to be small to medium size--holdings of perhaps five to ten slaves. This region also began producing large quantities of grain for export in the second half of the eighteenth century. In the lower south rice was the primary export and slave holding tended to be much larger with holdings of hundreds of slaves not uncommon. (24-7, 30-4)
A unique feature of American slavery was the resident status and resident mentality of slave masters. "Resident status" refers to the fact that, whereas slave masters in other times and places lived far from their estates, most American slave masters actually lived on their plantations and farms. "Resident mentality" refers to the increased sense of proprietorship that resulted from their resident status, and their increased interest in the management of their slaves and estates. This revealed itself in the frequent disputes between owners and overseers. (35-7
Another unique feature of American slavery was the fact that slaves achieved "natural" population growth. This occurred throughout the colonies, and gradually a mostly African slave population gave way to a mostly Creole (American-born) population. This change in the ratio of Africans to Creoles occurred slowest in the lower South because of a higher death rate combined with heavier importation of African slaves. (37-9)
African slaves came from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds: there was no homogenous continent-wide African culture. However, once in the colonies, a sense of African identity was forged. As Kolchin writes, however, "[t]he descendants of Africans brought to America were Americans." They lost touch with the language and culture of their ancestors. "[O]ut of their African heritage and their distinctive history they fashioned a new, African-American culture", distinct from the broader American culture. (43)
Kolchin provides four examples of African acculturation. First, American born slaves adopted the English custom of nursing their children for a single year as opposed to the African custom of nursing for two. This contributed to increasing the birth rate of Creoles because nursing mothers are less likely to become pregnant. The second examples is of flight, or running away. Whereas Africans fled their masters in groups in the hope of returning home or of establishing an African community on the American frontier, Creoles typically fled alone. A third example of Creole acculturation is demonstrated by the naming of children. For one thing, biblical names increased in frequency as African names decreased. In addition, African names lost their original meaning. Whereas an African born on a Sunday was named Quash, Creoles might name any of their children Quash, not just those born on Sunday. Kolchin's final example of the acculturation of African slaves has to do with African dancing in Congo Square in New Orleans. Whereas this began as an event in which Africans kept alive their native traditions, in the antebellum period the event no longer involved exotic instruments, filed teeth, or African tattoos. (44-7)
A major example of acculturation is the conversion of Creoles to Christianity. Kolchin presents this as one of the "[t]hree essential developments" that "marked the transition from African to African-American", the other two being the emergence of slave families and the growth of "occupational diversity and socioeconomic differentiation within the slave body." Originally both Africans and colonial masters resisted the conversion of blacks to Christianity. For masters this was partly out of fear that such conversion would require the slave's manumission (liberation from slavery). However, during the religious revival of the Great Awakening in the middle of the eighteenth century this changed. Whites began to desire the conversion of their slaves, and Creoles, estranged from their African roots, were finally receptive. There no longer existed such significant cultural or linguistic barriers to conversion. And theology was de-emphasized in favor of the conversion experience during the Great Awakening, which rendered religion more accessible to uneducated, illiterate slaves. (49, 54-6)
The economies of the British colonies that would eventually become the United States were not originally significantly dependent upon the slavery of uprooted Africans. "The initial demand for labor that eventually led to slavery was...color blind." Many Native Americans were made slaves by the English colonists. However, their widespread enslavement was rendered impossible by epidemics which wiped out large numbers of them; many others were killed in battle with European settlers. (8, 14)
More important was the large number of indentured servants that emigrated from Europe. Indenturing, essentially synonymous with apprenticing in the Old World, evolved to encompass a variety of arrangements in the New World. Some servants were simply kidnapped, and others were apparently sentenced to indentured servitude for criminal behavior. But the majority came voluntarily. They agreed to provide a number of years of labor--four, five, seven--in exchange for transatlantic voyage. Kolchin refers to this arrangement as "temporary slavery." "During their indenture, servants were essentially slaves, under the complete authority of their masters; masters could (and readily did) apply corporal punishment to servants, forbid them to marry, and sell them (for the duration of their terms) to others." Before the widespread introduction of African slavery later in the century, European laborers constituted "the basis of the seventeenth-century work force in the southern two-thirds of the English mainland colonies...". (Presumably the agricultural workforce of the north was composed mostly of those who owned the land they worked.) (7-9, 14)
In the late seventeenth century, economic upturn in England combined with the diminishing of opportunities in the New World (as land became less available), to bring about a decrease in the availability of indentured servants. "In short...selling themselves into indentured servitude in America no longer seemed like a very attractive proposition to many English subjects." At the same time, demand for labor was rapidly increasing as terms of indenture expired. Interestingly, hiring former servants as wage laborers does not appear to have been considered an option. (11-12)
The diminishing of the availability of European servants occurred just as the supply of African slave labor increased. African slaves were present in the British colonies as early as 1619. Because the Portuguese and Dutch dominated the slave trade, however, "the English colonists found slaves expensive and hard to obtain." This changed following the Anglo-Dutch war (1664-1667). It was therefore in the late seventeenth century that large-scale importation of African slaves to the English colonies began. (11-12)
Kolchin points out "additional, if subsidiary, reasons for preferring slaves to servants." Native Americans were familiar with the land which facilitated their escape. And white servants could flee their indenture and disappear into the colonial population. Africans, however, were wholly unfamiliar with their new home and racial characteristics hindered flight by distinguishing them as probable slaves. In addition, slaves were of course held permanently. (8, 13)
Kolchin places the development of slavery in colonial America within a larger context. "[U]ntil the nineteenth century unfree status of one type or another...was the lot of much of humankind." And he also points out that the American South "represented the northernmost outpost of" the plantation system of commercial agriculture that Europeans developed in the Western hemisphere. (4-5)
According to Kolchin, historians debate whether or not white prejudice caused slavery or whether or not slavery resulted in the development of racist attitudes toward blacks. He writes that the more appropriate question is "how slavery and prejudice interacted to create the particular set of social relationships that existed in the English mainland colonies." (14)
Before the widespread use of slave labor by the colonists, the English held three attitudes regarding blacks which facilitated their enslavement. First, "it is highly significant that the English saw Africans as black and themselves as white" because each term had symbolic meaning. "Blackness" suggested immorality, and of course whiteness implied purity. Second, Africans were viewed as uncivilized savages by whites. And finally, Africans were not Christians. "[I]n an era when being the wrong kind of Christian put one in mortal danger in most of Christendom (including most of the English colonies), being a non-Christian automatically put one beyond the pale." These attitudes were not essential to the enslavement of Africans however. Even as sexual contact with whites produced light-skinned blacks; as acculturation diminished the perceived "savagery" of blacks; and as blacks converted to Christianity, slavery persisted. (14-15)
Africans were treated differently than indentured whites, but at first only "marginally differently". However, the position of whites improved. The desire to attract voluntary immigrants limited the harshness with which masters could treat white servants. And as agricultural labor was more and more the fate of black slaves, and as colonial economies boomed, whites performed more skilled forms of labor. As slavery spread dramatically at the end of the seventeenth century, the oppressed status of slaves and of the few free blacks was enshrined in laws across the colonies. (15-17)
There were three distinguishable economic regions in colonial America. Slavery was legal and existed in all of the colonies. But in the north, where there was far less commercial agriculture than in the south, slaveholdings tended to be small--no more than three or four. In the upper south, or Chesapeake region, tobacco was the staple crop and slaveholdings tended to be small to medium size--holdings of perhaps five to ten slaves. This region also began producing large quantities of grain for export in the second half of the eighteenth century. In the lower south rice was the primary export and slave holding tended to be much larger with holdings of hundreds of slaves not uncommon. (24-7, 30-4)
A unique feature of American slavery was the resident status and resident mentality of slave masters. "Resident status" refers to the fact that, whereas slave masters in other times and places lived far from their estates, most American slave masters actually lived on their plantations and farms. "Resident mentality" refers to the increased sense of proprietorship that resulted from their resident status, and their increased interest in the management of their slaves and estates. This revealed itself in the frequent disputes between owners and overseers. (35-7
Another unique feature of American slavery was the fact that slaves achieved "natural" population growth. This occurred throughout the colonies, and gradually a mostly African slave population gave way to a mostly Creole (American-born) population. This change in the ratio of Africans to Creoles occurred slowest in the lower South because of a higher death rate combined with heavier importation of African slaves. (37-9)
African slaves came from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds: there was no homogenous continent-wide African culture. However, once in the colonies, a sense of African identity was forged. As Kolchin writes, however, "[t]he descendants of Africans brought to America were Americans." They lost touch with the language and culture of their ancestors. "[O]ut of their African heritage and their distinctive history they fashioned a new, African-American culture", distinct from the broader American culture. (43)
Kolchin provides four examples of African acculturation. First, American born slaves adopted the English custom of nursing their children for a single year as opposed to the African custom of nursing for two. This contributed to increasing the birth rate of Creoles because nursing mothers are less likely to become pregnant. The second examples is of flight, or running away. Whereas Africans fled their masters in groups in the hope of returning home or of establishing an African community on the American frontier, Creoles typically fled alone. A third example of Creole acculturation is demonstrated by the naming of children. For one thing, biblical names increased in frequency as African names decreased. In addition, African names lost their original meaning. Whereas an African born on a Sunday was named Quash, Creoles might name any of their children Quash, not just those born on Sunday. Kolchin's final example of the acculturation of African slaves has to do with African dancing in Congo Square in New Orleans. Whereas this began as an event in which Africans kept alive their native traditions, in the antebellum period the event no longer involved exotic instruments, filed teeth, or African tattoos. (44-7)
A major example of acculturation is the conversion of Creoles to Christianity. Kolchin presents this as one of the "[t]hree essential developments" that "marked the transition from African to African-American", the other two being the emergence of slave families and the growth of "occupational diversity and socioeconomic differentiation within the slave body." Originally both Africans and colonial masters resisted the conversion of blacks to Christianity. For masters this was partly out of fear that such conversion would require the slave's manumission (liberation from slavery). However, during the religious revival of the Great Awakening in the middle of the eighteenth century this changed. Whites began to desire the conversion of their slaves, and Creoles, estranged from their African roots, were finally receptive. There no longer existed such significant cultural or linguistic barriers to conversion. And theology was de-emphasized in favor of the conversion experience during the Great Awakening, which rendered religion more accessible to uneducated, illiterate slaves. (49, 54-6)
Comments