Chattel slavery in the Chesapeake

African slavery in the Chesapeake and Carolina

African slavery developed in the Chesapeake and colonial Carolina as plantation agriculture expanded

Indentured servitude in the Chesapeake

Indentured servitude was common in the Chesapeake, where workers agreed to labor for a set period in exchange for transportation and basic needs

Jamestown staple crop (1617)

Tobacco became Jamestown's staple crop in 1617

White servitude in early Chesapeake

White indentured servants initially made up most of the labor force in Virginia and Maryland

Indentured servants definition

Indentured servants worked 4 to 7 years to pay for their transportation, food, clothing, and shelter

Chattel slavery in the Chesapeake

Chattel slavery treated enslaved people as property and planters were not legally required to release them

Partus sequitur ventrem law (1662)

A 1662 law stated that children inherited the status of their mother

Status through the mother

If a mother was enslaved, her child was automatically enslaved

Chattel slavery definition

Chattel slavery meant enslaved people were movable property with no legal rights

Royal African Company founding (1660)

The Royal African Company was founded by the English in 1660

Royal African Company role

The company transported between 90,000 and 100,000 kidnapped Africans to English colonies in the Americas

Royal African Company impact

It provided colonists with a steady and affordable supply of enslaved Africans

Bacon's Rebellion leader (1676)

Bacon's Rebellion was led by Nathaniel Bacon in 1676

Bacon's Rebellion participants

The army included landless freemen, indentured servants, and enslaved people

Bacon's Rebellion unity

Bacon united poor white people and both free and enslaved Black people

Virginia laws after Bacon's Rebellion

Virginia passed laws strengthening slavery and dividing poor whites and Black people

Killing rebellious enslaved people law

Enslavers were legally allowed to kill rebellious enslaved people

White servant benefits after Bacon's Rebellion

Laws limited years of service and lowered poll taxes for white workers

Black population in Virginia (1680)

Black people made up about 7% of Virginia's population in 1680

Black population in Virginia (1750)

Black people made up about 44% of Virginia's population by 1750

Labor of newly arrived Africans

Newly arrived Africans cleared land and cultivated tobacco and other crops

Enslaved resistance definition

Enslaved people resisted slavery by escaping, rebelling, and forming communities

Group escapes

Enslaved Africans often escaped in groups from plantations

Dismal Swamp maroonage (1730)

More than 300 enslaved people fled into the Dismal Swamp and formed maroon communities

Maroonage definition

Maroonage refers to escaped enslaved people forming independent communities

White colonist attitudes

Many white colonists began to view all Black people, free and enslaved, as dangerous