How Did Colonial American Culture Affect Society

In the beginning of the 1600s, the culture of the English colonies negatively reflected one of the largest forced migration that would significantly affect the society and history for centuries. During the early 1600s, European servants would work along the side of African servants. However by the end of the century, workers would be separated by skin color and millions of Africans would be taken away from their homeland and experience a nightmare of inhumanity, and this was known as the Terrible Transformation.
The origins of slavery began when the Spanish were in need of workers to grow crops and dig for gold in the Caribbean Islands during the era of Columbus. To fulfill their need in human labor, they began to bring in Africans to work for them. Moreover, the Spanish needed more workers due to the discovery of more mines; therefore, a contract called the asiento was created. This allowed over 220,000 African slaves to be imported to the Spanish colonies as slaves during a span of 50 years. Because of these events, it inspired other countries to take part in using Africans for labor. For instance, enslaved Africans were working on sugar
However, servants had the chance to get permission from their masters if they wanted to. Also, they were allowed to sue their masters if they felt mistreated. Indentured servants were also punished for their wrongdoings- such as running away or breaking the law. In most cases, time was added to their contracts as a form of punishment. The conditions that indentured servants faced were often so harsh and unhealthy that they would die from it. Eventually, indentured servants stood up for their worth and resisted by assembling rebellions and escaping from their masters. To add on, indentured servants participated with Bacon’s Rebellion as another form of