Before the democratic United States was born, ships with European emigrants hoped for a better tomorrow arrived in the American colonies. Europeans, instead of a prosperous life, were given forced labor and became the property of the settlers for the duration of the contract. However, this was only a harbinger of an escalation of true slavery.
White Slaves
Poor English, Irish, Dutch and Germans did not bear the costs of travel across the Atlantic Ocean, but after reaching the destination they became the property of the settlers and were obliged to work for a certain number of years, they only got food and a place to sleep in return. After fulfilling this condition, they regained freedom and received their own piece of land for independent cultivation. Many of them regretted the decision to emigrate, because during the term of the contract the owner could lose such a slave at cards, and the escape was associated with bringing to court, and the compensation was the extension of the contract for the detained fugitive ...
"Husbands, wives and families sold indiscriminately to different buyers are brutally separated - they will probably never meet again"
Over time, it turned out that the number of such "voluntary slaves" was not enough and round-ups of poor inhabitants began on the streets of European cities. The deportation of prisoners from Europe has also become a new idea to replenish the workforce on American soil.
The map of the New World, made by Sebastian Münster, was first published in 1540
African contract agents
At the same time white slavery was in full swing, the indigenous peoples of Africa were brought down to forced labor. In 1619, the first shipment of twenty Negroes arrived, initially supposed to reach Spain, but were seized by pirates under the Dutch flag and directed to the port in Virginia. After reaching the American shore, the newcomers were baptized, which guaranteed them that they would not be slaves. However, it did not rule out the necessity to undertake contract work.
Black workers proved to be the most effective, so it was decided to regularly bring them straight from Africa to America. The cost of buying an Irish worker in a port was £ 5, and an African one as much as £ 10. The African tribes were in constant war, so they established the custom that the losers taken captive were sold to white traders waiting for volunteers to travel to the New World. The Negroes had no choice but to remain in their homeland they would be killed by the indigenous people who were imprisoning them.
Black Slaves for Sale, New Orleans
Life in the New World
Both white and black blue-collar workers who came to the American continent in the first half of the 17th century and fulfilled their duty to the landowner, were given their own piece of land, thanks to which they achieved independence and prosperity, and, being free people, could employ slaves themselves.
Slaves working on a tobacco plantation
As life in Europe improved, there were fewer and fewer people willing to move overseas, and the demand for labor in the colonies was by no means falling. The Africans perfectly suited the needs of the settlers, as they were mainly used to work in agriculture, where great physical fitness and resistance to extreme temperatures were valued. The landowners began to be bothered by the fact that they only had an employee at their disposal during the term of the contract ...
The first "full" slave
The first "full-fledged" slave in America was John Punch. Punch was a baptized black contract servant who escaped in 1640 with two workers of Dutch and Scottish descent. Both Europeans only had their contract extended, and John Punch was assigned a lifetime service with his current employer.
The next case of a change in the rules in force so far was the verdict on the life service of John Casor, even though Casor was not only baptized after his arrival in the New World, but he did not commit any crime. John Casor worked for another black, Anthony Johnson. In 1653, seven years had passed since Casor's contract ended, and Johnson did not want to release him from his duties. He was supported by Robert Parker, Johnson's neighbor, who took him in for his service. Johnson accused Parker of appropriating the servant, and so long appealed against the court's decision until he was satisfied. Parker was required to pay all court fees, and as an indemnity, Casor became Johnson's lifetime slave.
Black slaves working on a sweet potato plantation
Christianization Mission
The sixties of the seventeenth century brought dynamic changes to the disadvantage of newcomers from Africa. Neither the completed contract, nor even the confirmation of their freedom, changed their status in society. The Negro had to remain in the service of his master for the rest of his life. The religious question was skillfully used for this:
[These changes have been initiated] so that slave owners can spread true faith without fear of losing them.
Due to the physical strength and endurance of blacks, the demand for white services in the agricultural South disappeared. The industrial North, on the other hand, did not show any excessive interest in slave labor, as most activities required appropriate education.
Black slaves using a ginning machine to work on the plantation
At the end of the 17th century, the idea of maintaining slavery for Christianization purposes began to be questioned, so it was necessary to prepare secular and logical arguments to maintain the current status of blacks.
Legal regulation of "black barbarians"
In 1712, South Carolina implemented new regulations for the management of blacks. The preamble to this document reads:
[Black emigrants are] by nature barbarians, beasts and savages, which completely precludes them from being governed by the laws, customs and practices of our province. It is therefore absolutely necessary to pass and implement special laws, regulations and orders to regulate their conduct so that they refrain from riots, rape and other inhuman behavior to which they are naturally inclined.
The US Constitution of 1787 skillfully secured the continuation of the work of African slaves, calling them imported persons and persons obliged to serve and work.
One of the victims of the brutal treatment of slaves by plantation owners
Re-appealing to Christian values
In the nineteenth century, religious arguments began to be used again. Slavery supporters referred to the Old and New Testaments:
Just as the Temple of Solomon was erected through the work of slaves, nowadays Negro slaves are building a civilization of human dignity, beauty and sublime in the south [...]. After all, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and even Jesus Christ himself, warned slaves to obey their masters.
Cotton girdler - a symbol of exploitation
The industrial revolution provided innovations in the form of, inter alia, cotton ginning machines. This device contributed to the increase in productivity in terms of obtaining cotton, and thus the increase in the number of plantations and the demand for black slaves.
Supporters of the maintenance of slavery believed that the new facilities, job security, accommodation and food should make African workers happy. However, they had completely different needs, as Wiktor Osiatyński put it, they were freedom, justice, dignity, communing with their own culture.
Abolition of slavery
Blacks had no rights. They were not allowed to make decisions about choosing a job or development, no political or personal rights were recognized, so when plantation owners beat them, raped their wives or killed their loved ones, they could not seek justice in court. It caused great frustration, helplessness and confusion. In some, anger and hatred towards white masters arose, and in others, an attempt to adapt to the existing situation.
It was only the Civil War that brought redemption for blacks. This South-lost armed conflict led to the abolition of nationwide slavery by Congress in 1865. However, as we know, regaining freedom did not guarantee peace to the black citizens of the United States at the turn of the 20th century.
Bibliography:
- K. Surmiak-Domańska, Ku Klux Klan. Love Lives Here, Czarne 2015
- W. Osiatyński, The roots of "Roots". The History of Negroes in the United States, Warsaw 1981
- Mabel M. Smythe, The Black American Reference Book, Englewood Cliffs 1976
- Leslie H. Fishel, jr., Benjamin Quarles, The Negro American. A Documentary History, New York 1967
- Merle Curti, The Growth of American Thought, New York 1964