development of slavery

Shift in labor

Between 1450 and 1800, the colonies saw a massive increase in the

importation of enslaved Africans. This trend represents the replacement of indigenous

labor and indentured servitude with enslaved African labor.

Justification for slavery

Even as the idea of "government by consent" grew during the

Revolutionary era, slavery persisted. This was largely because colonists developed

arguments about racial difference to justify excluding African Americans from the rights

and liberties promised by the Revolution.

Negotiated nature of slavery

Historian Ira Berlin notes that slavery was a "negotiated

relationship.

" It was continually "remade" because master and slave had to concede a

degree of legitimacy to one another to function, meaning the institution changed as the

circumstances of their interaction changed.

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