Labor in Colonial America to The Origins of Slave labor essays

Labor in Colonial America to The Origins of Slave labor essays It is a common held belief that slavery was a direct result of racism and that it appeared suddenly. As a matter of fact, racism developed gradually and was the consequence of certain business and economic decisions. In Colonial America, there were three contending systems of production in Labor. There was the plantation system, which consisted in having large farms, and hired or enslaved laborers. Another system was the family based farming in New England and the Middle Colonies, which produces primarily for the family and local community. The third system of production was the artisan crafts. There were 100 or more crafts (carpentry, printing...). The three main forms of European (White) Labor were, voluntary, semi-voluntary and involuntary. The voluntary laborers were indentured or went of their own freewill. The indentures would agree to work without pay for a certain amount of time. The semi-voluntary laborers were mostly young apprentices, while the involuntary laborers were transportees. Two different experiences in Colonial America took place; one in the city of Jamestown in Chesapeake, and the other in New England. -Jamestown was founded as a profit-making corporation with God, Glory, Gold as a slogan. Jamestown turned out to be a total disaster. Only 60 people had survived in 1609, out of the 800 who arrived in 1607. They had come with no real intention of working, and only a few were skilled workers. Their relations with the Indians were disastrous meaning a lot of people were killed. Most deaths were caused by starvation. Tobacco was becoming more popular and this helped Jamestown to make a lot of money but also created economic problems such as labor shortage. Chesapeake could either exploit indentures or encourage immigrants. Those who survived made claims on their land bringing about inequalities between rich and poor planters and creating rebellions such as Bacons Rebellio...