When North America first became an English colony, the preferred form of labor was that of indentured servants. The English settlers who traveled to the new regions were in two main groups, the rich who could buy passage and the poor who had no money but promised years of labor to whoever would pay for the same. Consequently, those who were to work for a certain amount of years to pay back the money spent on traveling to North America were the indentured servants. The arrangement was preferred because when a person had indentured servants, he or she could sell and punish them as long as it was during the years of servitude and there were no salaries to pay. After the years of service end, the English immigrant would be free for the rest of his or her stay in the new land. Therefore, indentured servants were similar to slaves throughout the years promised to serve the person who pays their passage.
Black slavery in the colonies was possible because white merchants had a good supply of Africans. For example, African slave traders kidnapped Olaudah Equiano before using him as a commodity in their trading with white slave traders. Still, black slavery was favorable to the whites because the dark skin of Africans became a sign of enslavement. Therefore, indentured servants were no longer the source of hard labor, and as long as a person was colored, he or she was a good candidate for slavery. The colonies became a land of freedom for whites.
Free Essay About African Slavery And Indentured Servants
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