Key Concepts in Colonial Labor, Slavery, and Resistance

Indentured Servitude

Contract labor (4-7 years) for passage to colonies; 1600s-early 1800s, Virginia/Chesapeake; major labor system before slavery; Harrower's diary shows experience.

Enclosure Movement

Privatization of farmland in England (1500s-1600s); displaced peasants; key push factor for migration to colonies.

Vagrancy Laws

English laws (1500s-1600s) criminalizing poverty/unemployment; funneled poor into indentured servitude as 'King's Passengers.'

Headright System

Policy (1618, Virginia) granting 50 acres for each person's passage paid; incentivized flow of European labor; displaced Native peoples.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

Virginia revolt led by Nathaniel Bacon with servants and frontier settlers; exposed instability of indenture; elites turned to slavery.

Transatlantic Slave Trade / Middle Passage

Forced transport of ~12.5m Africans (1500s-1808 US ban); 1 in 7 died; foundation of slavery in Americas.

Tight Packing

Slave ship practice (1600s-1700s) of cramming captives; increased death but maximized profit; epitomized dehumanization.

First vs. Second Middle Passage

First (1500s-1808): Africa→Americas; Second (1790s-1860s): internal U.S. trade moving enslaved South; shows slavery's evolution.

Cotton Gin (1793)

Machine by Eli Whitney; revolutionized cotton production; fueled expansion of slavery and Second Middle Passage.

King Cotton

Term for U.S. cotton's dominance (1800-1860); central to slavery's survival and global economy.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Federal law signed by Andrew Jackson; forced Natives west; cleared land for cotton expansion.

Creolization

Blending of African, European, Native cultures; created African American identity (language, religion, music).

Maroon Communities

Independent settlements of escaped enslaved people (1600s-1800s); swamps/mountains; key form of resistance.

Movement and Place (Berlin)

Concept by Ira Berlin; African American history shaped by forced migrations and rootedness in community.

Revolt aboard the Creole (1841)

Slave revolt on U.S. ship; captives seized control, gained freedom in Bahamas; most successful U.S. slave revolt.