Todays Points

1. Varieties of bound labor existed in colonial America. Race-base chattel slavery would only become predominant around 1800.
2. Many post-Revolutionary Americans saw slavery as a contradiction to Liberty. They considered ways to end it and expected it to disappear.
3. However, a Cotton Revolution in the early 19th Century transformed American slavery and left it larger and more politically powerful than ever before.

Part I - American Freedom & Unfreedom

A. Bound Labor

When Europeans arrived in America, they found a wealth of natural resources that they could exploit and sell back in Europe. Some of the key items included:

• Furs: Beaver pelts and other animal furs were highly sought after in Europe for hats and other clothing items.
• Timber: The vast forests provided high-quality wood for shipbuilding and construction.
• Fish: Particularly cod, which was a staple in the European diet.
• Agricultural products: Potato's, Corn, Tobacco, sugar, and later on, cotton became major cash crops.
  They were in need of a labor source. It is horrible work, with primitive technology.

Origins?

The majority of white and black immigrants up to 1776, migrate to colonial British America as unfree persons or "bound laborers"

• 650k West Africans Enslaved
• One-half of all British immigrants (500k) enslaved

B. Types & Similarities

Indentured Servitude

• Origins: Rooted in the need for labor in the American colonies.
• Contractual Agreement: Individuals signed contracts to work for a specific period (usually 4-7 years).
• Compensation: In return for passage to America, food, clothing, and shelter.
• Post-Servitude: Upon completion, they received "freedom dues" which could include land, money, or goods.
• Demographics: Often young, European men and women, but also included some Africans before racialized slavery became dominant.
• Rights: Had some legal protections, could sue for mistreatment.

Slavery

• Origins: Codified into law in the colonies during the 17th century.
• Lifelong Bondage: Enslaved people were considered property for life.
• Heredity: Status was inherited; children of enslaved mothers were automatically enslaved.
• Lack of Rights: No legal rights; harsh treatment was common.
• Demographics: Predominantly West African men, women, and children brought through the transatlantic slave trade.
• Economic Impact: Central to the economy, particularly in the southern colonies; drove plantation agriculture.

Similarities between them

• Living Conditions
• Working conditions
• Social spheres
• treatment by employers

Result: in practice, "slave" and "indentured servant" are indistinct categories in Colonial America

Part II - Racialization of bound Labor

A. Problems of Hierarchy & Order

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

an armed uprising in 1676 led by Nathaniel Bacon against the Colonial Governor William Berkeley in Virginia. The rebellion was driven by several factors, including high taxes, falling tobacco prices, and escalating conflicts with Native Americans on the western frontier.

The Case of Hester Tate (1691)

A white indentured women and male slave

• Status of Children in question

B. Legal Resolutions

Racializing Bound Labor

• Laws emerge in early 18th century to favor slavery as a labor system
• Result: phasing out indentured servitude for a race-based and permanent, distinct population.
• Easier way of managing society

Part III - Post-Revolutionary Critique of Slavery

A. Slavery & Liberty

• "We are free men, British subjects, not born slaves." -- Anti-Stamp Act slogan, South Carolina, 1765
• Steps to limit & end slavery
  • Manumission encouraged
  • Gradual abolition in states
• Northwest Ordinance (1784), First one
  • Prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory

B. The Constitutional Compromise

Slavery is talked about a lot at the Constitutional Convention

• Madison agreed to the compromise

The Compromise

1. 20-year pause on ending the Atlantic slave trade (Art. I Sec. 9)
2. Federal Fugitive Slave Law, Art. IV, Sec. 2
3. "Three-fifths clause" (Art. I, Sec. 2)

James Madison

• I can compromise now and deal with it later

Part IV - The Cotton Revolution

A. Causes

• Cotton creates a global capitalist market
• Cotton = 2/3 of all US exports in 1860 (First high demand export item)

B. Effects A New Kind of Slaveholder

• Fiercely pro-slavery
• Dominate local society and national politics
• Slavery become more popular because it was very profitable and enriching
• Dominate local society and national politics