Slavery’s Early Roots in America (1619 onward)
Slavery’s Early Roots in America (1619 onward)
Slavery’s Early Roots in America (1619 onward)
Slavery’s Early Roots in America (1619 onward)
Slavery’s Early Roots in America (1619 onward)
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00:00By 1700, slavery was well established in North America.
00:04But what do most people not know about the early years of American slavery?
00:09And why is it important to understand this history?
00:13In the host, this is Crash Course, How to the U.S., a study guide to the United States.
00:20Before Europeans colonized the land we now called the United States,
00:24the peoples who lived here had their own cultures and histories,
00:27and many of them had forms of labor that relied on capturing or buying other people.
00:32So, when Europeans arrived, they already had the idea of enslaving people as a way of getting free labor.
00:39One of the first European countries to establish colonies in North America was Spain,
00:45which began exploring and conquering indigenous peoples in Florida in the 1500s.
00:51Enslaving these peoples was a key part of the Spanish colonial economy.
00:54In fact, the Spanish crown officially mandated the use of African slaves in its American colonies as early as 1522.
01:03By the end of the 16th century, there were thousands of enslaved Africans living in Spanish colonial America.
01:09But Spain wasn't the only European country to turn to Africa for labor.
01:14The Portuguese, French, and English also developed extensive slave trade networks with West Africa,
01:20bringing people from there to Europe and the Americas as forced laborers.
01:24However, the English would go on to develop the largest slave trade network out of these countries.
01:31And although the first Africans to arrive in what would become the United States were brought there in 1619
01:36aboard a Spanish ship called the San Juan,
01:39the English colony of Virginia would be the first to use slavery as an economic foundation.
01:45The origins of slavery in Virginia can be traced back to the founding of the Virginia Company,
01:51a joint stock company chartered by King James the Thrust of England in 1606 to establish a settlement in North America.
01:59Joint stock companies like the Virginia Company were a popular way of financing large overseas projects in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
02:08Investors would pool their resources to create a company that would then sell shares to even more people
02:15who would earn a return on their investment based on the profits the company made.
02:19The goal of the Virginia Company was to make money for its investors through various means such as mining, fishing, and fur trading.
02:27However, the first attempts at establishing a settlement in Virginia were not profitable.
02:33During the winter of 1609 and 1610, the colony nearly starved to death after failing to grow enough food,
02:40a situation known as the Starving Time.
02:44Only 60 of the original 500 colonists survived.
02:48To ensure the colony's survival, the Virginia Company needed a reliable labor force to cultivate crops,
02:54and that's where Africans came in.
02:56In 1619, the company sent an agent to the west coast of Africa to buy slaves,
03:03specifically those captured from the interior of the continent by African slavers.
03:08These people were transported across the Atlantic Ocean in horrible conditions
03:12on ships called the Middle Passage which were designed to carry as many people as possible
03:17packed tightly together in the dark and stinking holds,
03:21enduring terrible stench disease and starvation.
03:23Many died during the crossing,
03:25and those who survived often suffered lifelong disabilities due to the terrible conditions.
03:32The arrival of the 20 or so Africans in 1619 marked the beginning of chattel slavery in North America.
03:40Chattel refers to personal property,
03:41and chattel slavery refers to a type of slavery in which the enslaved person is considered property,
03:48bought and sold like any other item.
03:51They have no rights and are treated like animals.
03:54Their owners could do whatever they wanted with them,
03:57and their children were considered property too.
03:59Unlike other forms of coerced labor,
04:02like indentured servitude,
04:04which was common in early colonial America,
04:07chattel slavery was for life.
04:10When the Africans arrived in Virginia,
04:12they were able to speak to the colonists because many of them spoke Portuguese,
04:16which the colonists also knew.
04:19And some of the Africans were literate in Arabic.
04:22We know that at least one of them,
04:24a man named Anthony,
04:25eventually became a freeman and bought his own freedom.
04:29But for most of the Africans who arrived in Virginia in 1619,
04:34and those who would follow,
04:35freedom was not an option.
04:38Slavery quickly became the basis of the southern colony's economy
04:41as more and more Africans were brought to the region
04:44to work on plantations growing crops like tobacco.
04:48After King Charles the Hutt of England lost his head in the English Civil War,
04:52the new parliament passed the Act for the Manumission of Slaves in 1649,
04:57which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in the British Empire.
05:01But this didn't affect the southern colonies.
05:05They were more interested in growing cash crops than manufacturing.
05:09And by the time the Act was repealed in 1660,
05:12slavery was well established in the south and northern colonies.
05:16By the 1660s,
05:18Virginia was receiving Africans captured by other Europeans along the West African coast,
05:23though the transatlantic slave trade would not really begin until later.
05:27While England would go on to develop its own extensive slave trade network,
05:32initially,
05:33Virginia imported most of its slaves from the Caribbean island of Barbados,
05:37which had a thriving plantation economy and lots of slaves to spare.
05:43In 1662,
05:44the Barbados Slave Code went into effect,
05:47defining the conditions of slavery on the island.
05:50This code would serve as the model for American slavery.
05:53The Barbados Slave Code defined enslaved people as property
05:58and gave slave owners complete control over their enslaved workers.
06:02It also included particularly brutal punishments for running away or rebelling,
06:07including fines, whippings, and banishment.
06:10Over time,
06:12laws in Virginia and other colonies became even harsher,
06:15including the 1705 Virginia Slave Codes,
06:19which prohibited enslaved people from gathering in large numbers,
06:22traveling without permission,
06:24or testifying in court.
06:26These codes made it illegal to teach an enslaved person
06:28to read and write and forbade anyone who had been enslaved from owning property
06:33or even from marrying,
06:35except with permission from their owner.
06:37The codes also allowed for the separation of families
06:41as enslaved people could be sold without their family members.
06:45And if an enslaved woman had a child,
06:48the child would belong to the enslaver.
06:50As slavery grew in the southern colonies,
06:53it had profound effects on both the enslaved population
06:56and American society as a whole.
06:59For the enslaved,
07:01life was incredibly difficult.
07:03They worked long hours in dangerous conditions
07:05for little or no pay
07:07and were subject to brutal punishments.
07:10Despite all this,
07:11enslaved people resisted slavery in various ways,
07:14including running away,
07:16fighting back against their abusers,
07:18and maintaining aspects of their African cultures,
07:21traditions, and religions.
07:23But while Americans did practice resistance,
07:26it's also true that Americans benefited from slavery in many ways.
07:30Slavery allowed wealthy landowners
07:32to accumulate great wealth.
07:34Enslavers used the labor of enslaved people
07:37to grow crops like tobacco,
07:39cotton, and rice,
07:41which they sold for profit.
07:43Slavery also played a role
07:45in the growth of cities
07:46as enslaved people often lived
07:48and worked in urban areas.
07:50And finally,
07:51slavery shaped American culture and identity.
07:55The institution of slavery
07:56led to the development
07:57of a distinctive southern culture
07:59and way of life.
08:01And it also contributed
08:02to the emergence of racial hierarchies
08:04and prejudices
08:05that would have lasting impacts
08:07on American society.
08:09As the colonies moved toward independence
08:11in the mid-1700s,
08:13the issue of slavery
08:14became a major point of contention
08:16between the northern and southern states.
08:19While slavery was gradually phased out
08:21in the north,
08:22it continued to grow in the south,
08:24setting the stage for the conflict
08:25that would erupt in the Civil War.
08:27If you'd like to learn more
08:30about how slavery impacted
08:31the development of the United States,
08:33stay tuned for more episodes
08:35of Crash Course,
08:36How to the U.S.
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