Topic 2.6: Slavery in the British Colonies

Overview

What were the main themes of Unit 2 Topic 6?

Work, Exchange, and Technology; Social Structures.

What were the two learning objectives for this topic?

(1) Explain the causes and effects of slavery in the various British colonial regions. (2) Explain how enslaved people responded to slavery.

Was slavery limited to one region of the British colonies?

No — slavery existed in every British colony in the Americas, though in different degrees depending on region.

What was the overall cause of slavery across the British colonies?

A massive demand for labor to produce colonial goods for export, which generated immense wealth for Britain.

Uneven Distribution of Slavery

Where was slavery present in British America?

In all colonies, but with different intensities from north to south.

What general pattern existed in slavery across the colonies?

The farther south one went, the greater the reliance on enslaved labor.

How was slavery used in New England?

There were few enslaved Africans, and most worked in domestic service, maritime industries, or on small farms due to rocky soil and a harsh climate.

How was slavery used in the Middle Colonies?

Enslaved Africans were more numerous than in New England and often worked in port cities like New York and Philadelphia or on farms in the Hudson River Valley.

Where did slavery become the most dominant?

In the Southern Colonies and the Caribbean.

Why did slavery increase moving southward?

The warmer climate and long growing seasons made plantation agriculture — especially tobacco, rice, and sugar — extremely profitable.

Which British colonies had the highest concentration of enslaved Africans?

The British West Indies (Caribbean colonies).

Why did the British West Indies rely so heavily on slavery?

Their economies revolved around labor-intensive sugar cultivation.

What was the racial ratio in some Caribbean colonies?

The Black population outnumbered the white population by as much as four to one.

What effect did this population imbalance have on white planters?

It made them fearful of revolts, leading them to create harsh slave codes and rigid racial hierarchies.

Legal Foundations and Definitions of Slavery

How did colonial governments respond to planter fears of rebellion?

They created strict racial laws and redefined slavery as permanent, inheritable, and race-based.

What was this new legal concept of slavery called?

Chattel slavery.

What does “chattel” mean?

Property — enslaved people were considered the complete and permanent property of their owners.

What was the significance of chattel slavery?

It made slavery a lifelong, inheritable condition passed from mother to child and codified white supremacy in law.

What was the Barbados Slave Code?

A set of laws first developed in Barbados that denied basic rights to enslaved Africans and gave masters total control, including the right to use brutal punishment.

How did the Barbados Slave Code influence North America?

Southern colonies, especially South Carolina, adopted similar codes as slavery expanded.

What did these slave codes enforce?

Racial segregation and absolute power of white masters over enslaved Africans.

What legal principle was established regarding the children of enslaved mothers?

Children born to enslaved mothers were automatically enslaved for life.

What was the long-term effect of these legal codes?

They entrenched racial slavery and justified extreme violence to maintain control.

Increased Demand for Slave Labor

Was slavery dominant at the beginning of the colonial period?

No — early on, most colonial labor came from indentured servants.

What was indentured servitude?

A system in which people worked for a fixed number of years in exchange for passage to the New World.

Who could be indentured servants?

Both white and Black laborers.

When did the shift from indentured servitude to racial slavery begin?

In the mid-1600s.

What key event marked the beginning of race-based lifetime servitude in Virginia?

The case of John Punch in 1640.

Who was John Punch?

An African indentured servant in Virginia who ran away with two white indentured servants.

What happened to John Punch and his companions?

The two white men had their indentures extended, but John Punch was sentenced to lifetime servitude — establishing a racial distinction in labor punishment.

What did this event represent?

The start of legally codified, race-based slavery in the English colonies.

Bacon’s Rebellion and the Shift to Slavery

What system was widely used before slavery became dominant?

Indentured servitude.

Why did indentured servitude decline in Virginia by the late 1600s?

Land became scarce for freed servants, and economic opportunities dwindled, causing unrest.

What event symbolized the crisis of the indentured servant system?

Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676.

Who was the governor of Virginia during Bacon’s Rebellion?

Governor William Berkeley.

Who led Bacon’s Rebellion?

Nathaniel Bacon.

What caused Bacon’s Rebellion?

Frontier settlers were angry at the Virginia elite and the government’s refusal to protect them from Native American attacks or grant them new lands.

What happened during Bacon’s Rebellion?

Frontier farmers, including both free and enslaved Blacks and poor whites, united to attack Native villages and later turned on the Virginia government.

How did Governor Berkeley respond to Bacon’s Rebellion?

He fled temporarily but later crushed the rebellion after Bacon’s death.

What did Bacon’s Rebellion reveal about colonial society?

That poor whites and Blacks could unite against the elite — something planters wanted to prevent.

What was the long-term effect of Bacon’s Rebellion?

Southern planters turned away from indentured servitude and toward permanent African slavery to avoid multiracial uprisings.

Why did slavery appear safer to the elites than indentured servitude?

Enslaved Africans could not legally demand land or freedom, and their children were enslaved as well, preventing social mobility.

How did Bacon’s Rebellion shape racial attitudes in Virginia?

It hardened racial divisions by encouraging elites to give poor whites privileges based on race, ensuring loyalty to the planter class.

What became a major social outcome of race-based slavery?

A strict racial hierarchy placing all white people above all Black people, regardless of wealth.

Regional Differences in Enslaved Labor

What types of work did enslaved people perform in the New England colonies?

They worked in households, shipyards, and small farms rather than large plantations.

Where were enslaved people concentrated in the Middle Colonies?

In port cities like New York and Philadelphia, where they worked as dockworkers, artisans, or laborers.

What region had the most enslaved Africans by the 18th century?

The Southern Colonies and the Caribbean.

What crops dominated the Chesapeake region?

Tobacco and, to a lesser extent, wheat.

What crops dominated the Carolinas and Georgia?

Rice and indigo.

Which British colony had the harshest conditions for enslaved labor?

The Caribbean, especially on sugar plantations.

Why was mortality so high on Caribbean plantations?

Overwork, brutal discipline, poor nutrition, and tropical diseases.

How did plantation labor shape colonial economies?

It created enormous profits for planters and fueled transatlantic trade, enriching Britain.

Resistance and Enslaved People’s Responses

Did enslaved people passively accept their condition?

No — they resisted in many forms, both overt and covert.

What were examples of overt resistance?

Slave rebellions, uprisings, and attempts to escape.

What were examples of covert resistance?

Working slowly, sabotaging tools, pretending to be sick, and maintaining African cultural traditions.

How did enslaved people maintain cultural identity?

Through language, music, religion, and family traditions rooted in African heritage.

What was one example of cultural preservation among enslaved Africans?

The development of Gullah culture in the coastal Carolinas and Georgia, blending African and English influences.

How did enslaved people resist spiritually?

They combined Christian beliefs with African religious elements, creating forms of worship that affirmed dignity and hope.

What was the psychological impact of such cultural resistance?

It created a sense of community and resilience among enslaved populations.

What did white planters often fear about enslaved Africans?

That shared culture and communication could enable rebellion or escape.

How did colonial governments respond to fears of slave resistance?

They passed stricter slave codes, limiting assembly, literacy, and movement among enslaved people.

Long-Term Effects of Slavery

What effect did slavery have on Britain’s economy?

It generated massive wealth from cash crops, boosting trade, manufacturing, and the British Empire’s global dominance.

What effect did slavery have on colonial society?

It entrenched racial hierarchies, created deep social divisions, and concentrated wealth in the hands of a few elite planters.

How did slavery affect colonial demographics?

It led to a large African population in the South and Caribbean, shaping the cultural and social fabric of those regions.

What was the moral and ideological effect of slavery on the colonies?

It produced a contradiction between ideals of liberty and the reality of racial bondage that would haunt future generations.