Dbq Slavery In The South Analysis

For plantations located in the south, slaves didn’t popularize until nearly a hundred years later because of the increased demand for labor and less availability of indentured servants. From an economic standpoint, as cash crops became more of a demand in the south, so were the slaves needed to cultivate the crops (Doc D). Also, social aspects played a role dictating who became slaves. According to Document B, people who didn’t practice a certain religion were taken as slaves. Overall, both social and economic influences played a major role in slavery in the southern colonies.

The fact that the south’s economy was based off of agricultural goods was one of the reasons that slavery became so common down there. Compared to the south,
Due to differences in religious beliefs, many people were taken as slaves. As stated in Document B, those who didn’t practice Christianity in their place of origin had a right to be enslaved by the colonists. In addition to that, slaves were declared property of owners. If they were to deny the orders of their master, they could be killed without any punishment to the owners due to “accidental” reasoning (Doc B). In fact, the slave owners thought they were doing the slaves a favor by having them convert to Christianity. John Saffin in Document G, can be quoted as saying because the African slaves converted to Christianity, they became “eternally saved”. Slavery was also hereditary based in places such as Virginia, which was another social factor because people who were related were automatically included into the slavery system. Slaves were declared property by the state of Virginia in 1705 and were allowed to be inherited and killed by “necessary” means, such as revolting against or trying to liberate from slaveowners (Doc C). To conclude, religion and heredity were both major social factors that contributed to enslaving people of various