DC US History CH 4.3 Slavery, Rebellion, and the Consumer Revolution in the British Atlantic

Slavery formed a cornerstone of the British Empire in the eighteenth century; it influenced every aspect of colonial thought and culture. The unequal relationship gave White colonists a heightened sense of status, and African slavery provided a shared racial bond that helped define White identity.

1660: Royal African Company (monopoly) on trade in African goods and enslaved people; James II led the company before becoming king.
Between 1672{-}1713, the company bought 125{,}000 captives on the African coast; about 20\% died on the Middle Passage.
The monopoly ended in 1689 due to the Glorious Revolution; after that date, more English merchants engaged in the slave trade, greatly increasing the number transported.
Enslaved Africans typically arrived in the West Indies (often Barbados) after the Middle Passage.

Enslaved people formed communities, maintained African customs, and created family networks as responses to trauma.
Resistance took many forms, including rebellions and escape (maroon communities); prominent maroon activity occurred in interior Jamaica.
Stono Rebellion (SC, Sept. 1739): led by a literate Angolan named Jemmy; rebel group suppressed after a battle; remaining rebels executed or sold to the West Indies.
After Stono, SC passed the Negro Act of 1740 (An Act for the Better Ordering and Governing of Negroes and Other Slaves in the Province): bans on assembling, growing food, learning to write, and traveling freely.

NYC’s diverse population and the presence of enslaved people heightened tensions after the Stono Rebellion.
In 1741, a series of fires led to widespread rumors of a slave revolt; ~two hundred enslaved people were interrogated.
Trials at City Hall resulted in the execution of seventeen people (thirteen Black men burned at the stake; others, including four White men, hanged) and about seventy people sold to the West Indies.
Little evidence supported a grand conspiracy; the trials underscored racial fear and reinforced White dominance.

Colonial gentry emerged through reliance on indentured servitude and slavery to meet labor demands; they embodied refined status similar to English aristocracy.
Westover (Virginia) and William Byrd II exemplify the gentry; Byrd founded Richmond and kept diaries as a gentleman planter and enslaver.

Byrd’s diaries reveal daily life on a plantation and the attitudes of a planter who enslaved others.
Example entries show routine religious observance, scholarly pursuits, social chess with his wife, financial generosity, and evidence of enslaved people (e.g., reference to a slave girl and punishment of enslaved people).
Entry excerpt (1709–1710) includes a note about punishing an enslaved person and about a runaway enslaved child being returned.

Increased imports of goods from Britain linked the colonies to the imperial economy; consumer goods (e.g., tea) became symbols of empire and status for gentry and ordinary settlers.
Printing and press publications expanded: newspapers were not common before 1680, but by the 18th century journals, pamphlets, and books proliferated.
Cato’s Letters (1720–1723) by Trenchard and Gordon celebrated English liberty but warned of threats to liberty.

The Spectator (1711–1714) popularized refined manners and virtuous conduct, promoting gentility and temperance in public life.
Novels emerged in the British Atlantic (e.g., Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe; Samuel Richardson’s Pamela) and attracted large audiences; however, access to novels was limited for most women beyond the colonial gentry.