Question

How did the search for a viable labor force affect the development of the southern colonies? What was the role of african-american slavery in the early colonial settlements? Why were two southern colonies initially resistant to slavery?

Answer 1

The Southern Colonies were ideal for cash crops but those crops require a large labor source. Initially, Native Americans were used for labor but they were too familiar with the land and were more likely to runaway. The colonies then began a system of indentured servitude. This system worked well because it eased population tension in England as well as serving as cheap labor for plantations. This system posed a problem however, indentured servants eventually earned freedom and were gifted land which was running in short supply.

When the first boat load of Africans arrived in the colones in 1619 it was a fluke, a lost boat looking to part with the cargo and move on. The Africans on board were allowed to stay in the colonies and were treated as indentured servants. Again, like white servants this posed a problem. Eventually the system changed from servitude to slavery which kept African slaves in a system of labor for a lifetime. Slaves worked on medium to large farms and plantations as field hands as well as house slaves. Laws were passed in the late 17th century restricting the legal rights of slaves preventing them from having legal marriages, education, rights to property or earnings, and rules for runaways and revolts.

Some of the Southern colonies were worried about slave systems for two major reasons. One, slaves meant larger farms and therefore less opportunity for lower class and middle class farmers to have a family farm. Second, it meant whites being outnumbered by black slaves and the potential for violence was a possibility. Georgia was so concerned with the downside of a slave system that the colony outlawed slavery initially.