Essay On Slavery In The 18th Century

During the 18th century, the American colonies saw a great increase in the African slaves that were brought into the country. Before this time most of the slaves in the colonies had been Native Americans or indentured servants that were working off their debt off. During this era, the number of people flowing into the colonies also rose drastically. Each region of the colonies from the Northeast to the then Deep South each had different types of slavery and differing ideas of how slaves should be treated. In the Chesapeake Bay colonies of Maryland and Virginia, they had large tobacco plantations. Tobacco is a very labor-intensive crop and as such, the owners of these plantations needed extensive labor forces. Slave ownership was not limited only to the plantation owners in these colonies; according to documentation from 1770’s, nearly half of Virginia’s white families owned at least one slave. These slaves worked not only on plantations but also in skilled labor positions such as blacksmiths, shoemakers, weavers, boatman, and teamsters just to name a few. The owners of these slaves also controlled all aspects of the slave’s lives and the slaves were severely punished if they did wrong. In South Carolina, there were large rice plantations in the outer banks and indigo plantations farther inland. This colony had a large slave
In the early 18th century 3/4th of the urban elite owned slaves, however these slaves worked as farmhands, in artisan shops, stevedores, and personal servants. These slaves were treated better that the slaves working on plantations farther south. These colonies had strict rules on how owners were to treat their slaves these slaves were allowed to bring legal suits against white men, the owners were not to severely physically harm their slaves, and the slaves were able to own land that could be passed down just to name a few of these