Pima Community College History Digital Artifact

1. SLAVES AND SERVANTS

2. Slaves and Servants
Slaves and servants have been around for
thousands of years. Many nations have been
built by slave labor. The colonists did not
start using slave labor on a regular basis until
the 17th century. Most of the colonie’s slaves
came from the Caribbean purchased from
the Spanish and Portuguese.
By the mid 1600’s Jamestown had 950
Africans slaves. England was not supportive
of slavery but did not bother to stop it.
As the crops grew larger so did the need for
labor. Ships would stop at Jamestown and
trade slaves for food. Wealthy plantation
owners bought and sold slaves on a regular
basis from ports.
https://blogs.stockton.edu/plantations/slave-conditions/

3. The beginning
The colonist had learned from previous
expeditions that tobacco would grow very
strong on the Eastern coast of North
America. When the Virginia company sent
104 colonist to America they did not foresee
the amount of labor that would be required
to work the fields. The colonists had rough
time in the beginning. The wealthy
Englishmen refused to work the fields leaving
the indentured and indigenous people to
work the fields. Drought was a major factor
that first year almost crippling the colonist.
Tobacco was not the only thing having
trouble growing. The drought affected all
crops and the Colonist depended on the
Indians for survival.

4. Tobacco was not the only thing
that grew on the Eastern coast.
The Africans, being solid farmers
where their homeland, also
planted rice and cotton. These
crops expanded the Southern
region and with that more slaves
were required. Ports in
Charleston, SC and New Orleans,
LA became active hubs for slave
trade.
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-colonial/2029

5. Northern Slaves
The North had slaves but the lifestyle was
extremely different than the slaves of the
South. Northern slaves worked for his/her
master within a home or a business. Many
became talented artisans while building
towns and roads. They also worked the local
fields and small farms.
Only three percent of the New England
region was made up of slaves. Many slaves
lived isolated from one another while others
enjoyed normal living. It really depended on
who owned the slave as to the type of life
they were able to live.
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/slavery/slavery-us-constitution.htm

6. Southern Slaves
Down in the Southern regions slave life was
the toughest. The slaves were up before the
sun and often worked late into the night.
This left little time for them to work their
own little parcels of soil for their own
vegetables. Slaves were often whipped for
not meeting their quota of work.
Many slave families were separated because
of the slave trade. The plantation owners
would trade women and children for strong
young men to work the fields.
The elderly were often given jobs within the
house and was often supervised by the
mistress of the home. The cooking and
cleaning would be done by the slaves.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/09/09/2587231/study-suggests-southern-slavery-turns-white-people-
republicans-150-years/

7. Indentured Servant
The indentured servant lived on the
plantation as the slaves did. They
would work long hard hours side by
side with the slaves. They were fed
and housed by the plantation owner
until the indentured servants
contract was fulfilled. The plantation
owner did not give the indentured
servant anything more than he gave
his slaves.
The only benefit to the servant was
they had freedom to look forward to
while the slaves would be slaves for
their entire lives.
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8. Reality
The reality is that for centuries indentured
servants and slaves have been used o build
kingdoms. Throughout the Bible, slaves are
talked about. Many versions of the Bible
actually reword the term slave and use
words like manservant, bondservant and
even just servant. Without slaves and
indentured servants places as we know them
today may not exist. We owe many thanks
and apologies to both classes of people.
We must not forget how we came to be but
we must also forgive and live together as a
solid race of human beings.
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9. Work Cited
Schultz, K. M. (2010). HIST. Boston: Suzanne Jeans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX7zVG7tHc8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CrcHBWk8S8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsDelVbWozA