Physical abuse by plantation owners towards both their servants and slaves was common. One account by Thomas Gates in a General Court of Colonial Virginia document about Elizabeth Abbot, an indentured servant, stated that “she had been sore beaten and her body full of sores and holes very dangerously raunckled and putrified both above her wast and uppon her hips and thighs” (General Court of Colonial Virginia). In fact, such abuse towards servants and slaves was so common that the state of Virginia had to make laws for such cases. Unfortunately, colonial governments did not consider corporal punishment illegal. Thus adding to the brutality endured by persons in captivity and servitude during the colonial era. “Moderate corporal punishment inflicted …show more content…
The harsh conditions of the Chesapeake colonies indiscriminately killed anyone who lived there. According to Taylor, “Despite the importation of fifteen thousand indentured servants between 1625 and 1640, Virginias population increased by only seven thousand…the extremes of the Chesapeake environment shocked English bodies...” …show more content…
Servants and slaves who had more physically demanding lives bore the brunt of the climate and harsh environmental conditions. Moreover, life as a slave was even harsher than life as a servant. According to Taylor, “The planters also afforded Africans even less food, poorer housing, and less medical attention than the servants…” (Taylor). William Byrds diary showcases some of the cruel treatment of slaves in the Chesapeake. He wrote, “Eugene pissed abed again for which I made him drink a pint of piss” (Byrd). Many colonists saw their slaves as subhuman, which helped them treat their slaves with such brutality. Taylor references an English visitor who wrote that, “‘The planters do not want to be told that their Negroes are human creatures. If they believe them to be of human kind, they cannot regard them…as no better than dogs or horses’” (Taylor). Additionally, colonial slave laws strengthened the dehumanization of slaves. For example, one law passed in December of 1662 stated that “all children born in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother” (Virginia Slave
By the 18th century, Pennsylvania was becoming home for American Development. Many people that were drawn to Pennsylvania were servants whether, for sometimes 4 years or however long, it took to pay off debt for their travel across the Atlantic. If they weren’t servant, they were slaves who almost had no chance of freedom. Servants had a chance to become free after paying off their debts with work, but not the same for slaves.
During American colonization, the economy of the south became predominantly dependent on the tobacco plant. As the south continued to develop, they shifted their focus to cotton. Indentured servants as well as African slaves were used for these labor-intensive crops because their labor was decent and cheap (Shi and Tindall 39). Young British men were promised a life of freedom in America if they agreed to an exchange between a free voyage and labor for a fixed number of years. Many willing, able-bodied, and young men signed up with the hopes of establishing a bright future for themselves in America. Unbeknownst to them, indentured servitude was not as easy as it was made out to be. Many servants endured far worse experiences than they had ever imagined. The physical and emotional conditions they faced were horrible, their masters overworked them, and many had to do unprofessional work instead of work that enabled them to use their own personal skills. Young British men felt that because they faced such horrible circumstances, the exchange between a free voyage to America in exchange for servitude was not a proper trade.
Even though Massachusetts was the “most populous, influential, and powerful of the New England colonies” and New England as a whole was considered a healthier environment than the Chesapeake colonies, disease was still a major issue (Taylor, pg. 166). Due to the fact of the new environment, weather, location change, lack of access to food and fresh water, and close proximity, disease and death were inevitable during the colonial era. Massachusetts was no exception. According to Pond, the people were “subject to disease,” and had “died of the scurvy and of the burning fever two hundred and odd” (Pond, pg. 94). Ultimately, if a colonist did not die from the extremely high fever, they were immobilized inside their own bodies and unable to walk.
The colonist made many mistakes that lead to the high death rate in early Jamestown. The people of Jamestown did not bring the correct people they needed to survive They brought one doctor and no apothecaries (druggists), so when people got sick there was one doctor to treat everyone. This caused death because there was no way to get better, if you have no doctor to treat you. On the first shipload of people, they brought no women and 47 gentlemen. Gentlemen were men who were not used to working with their hands.d. In a typical household in the 1600’s the women were the ones who cleaned the house and took care of the sick. However, without women, and only one doctor, there was no one to take care of the houses and the sick. Also, the settlers came to Jamestown for the first time in the middle of a drought and they brought no barrel makers If there was rainfall, how were they supposed to collect it? On top of all the other problems and lack of important people, the colonists also made stupid careless decisions. According to J.Frederick Fausz’s count of deaths in Virginia, they lost 11 people in a ‘boating accident.’ After all the people they have already lost to natives, disease and starvation, one would think that they would be more careful of accidents like loosing people in a careless boating accident. The last reason human error was such a major influence for death in Jamestown was because they made stupid decisions, like chopping off native’s heads when they had no issue beforehand. Chopping off someone’s head without reason causes revenge and the want kill your enemy’s men. Human error helps explain why so many colonists died. The settlers made so many stupid mistakes by bringing no women, the incorrect medical people, and the incorrect number of working people. In addition, they also made stupid mistakes like causing disputes for no
...te a passage of the scripture: “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes” (99). This shows that he uses the Bible to justify his pain and suffering onto the slave who does not obey her master. Douglass states, “I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, --- a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,--- a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds--- and a dark shelter under, which the darkest , foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection” (117). For completing these horrid crimes, slaveholders don’t feel bad for their sinful deeds because they feel like scriptures in the Bible support their abuse. In the narrative, Douglass explains how female slaves were victimized because of they were weaker and easier to abuse.
The first arrivals of Africans in America were treated similarly to the indentured servants in Europe. Black servants were treated differently from the white servants and by 1740 the slavery system in colonial America was fully developed.
Two young women kneeled in front of their master, shaking, aware of what was to come, the painful stinging of lashings. “Lord, Lord, Lord”, they repeatedly cried in anguish, vainly seeking help amongst the slave; the groans and the trembles accompany the many wounds they were to receive. Twenty lashes later, blood spewing out, stripped, the uneasy sensation of exhaustion could not make it any more difficult to endure. Slaves had been subjected to these types of punishments, particularly in Jamaica. In accordance to Henry Whitley, a patronage of England, enslaved Africans were constantly subjected to extreme flogging, which resulted in severe scarring and lacerating of the skin. In his testimony, Whitley expressed his discontent in the presence of slave owners, who chastised the slaves under inexcusable rationales. Indeed, this is one of many accounts explicating the unjust treatment of the enslaved people of Jamaica. The institution of slavery in Jamaica employed a tyrannical system of slave labor focused on degrading the slave population through overtly gross physical abuse and deplorable living conditions.
The punishments provided for offenders against the law were very severe. Even against whites, the punishments were tough and embarrassing. Whenever an Englishman slept with a slave, the accused had to confess in front of the entire church that next sunday. The church would be disgusted at this idea because not only was the other partner a slave, but the relationship was also before marriage. Actions such as this would change the way people looked at the accused Englishman. Additionally, Africans had
Chesapeake colonies of Virginia and Maryland were settled in the early 17th century. It was a difficult live for the first colonist; they had limited labor and were constantly raided by Native Americans. Colonist tried to use the Native Americans as a source of slavery. Most of the colonist’s farms were by forest areas so Native Americans would just leave in to the woods. Colonists were afraid of pressuring them from the fear of getting ambushed by gangs of Native Americans. Another reason Native Americans men made bad slaves was because the women in the tribes did the agricultural work in the Native American villages.
The typical life of an indentured servant was not a convenient one. Their journeys to the Americas were miserable. The servants were packed into large ships carrying thousands of people as well as, tools, food, etc. Not only were the people densely packed, there were various diseases flooding the ships, and many people would die from them. “I witnessed . . .
During the nineteenth century, masters brutally mistreated their slaves. The masters abused their slaves by whippings, a lack of food, a lack of clothing, and malicious language directed at the slave. The injuries that the slaves received could never heal because before the wounds could heal, they were beaten again. Frederick Douglass, a slave during the 1800s, in his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, strives to persuade Americans to realize that slaves were treated brutally by their masters no matter if their masters were male or female, rich or poor, or religious or nonreligious.
Indentured servants- immigrants who, at the time, could not afford to travel to North America. In agreement, they signed a contract where they agreed to work for 4-7 years for a master. Indentured servants became the original backbone of this country's economy.
The most commonly used labor system used in Virginia prior to the 1670’s was indentured servants. Indentured servants were the most common form of labor because during this time period slaves were too expensive. Indentured servants were generally too poor to afford a ticket to afford a ticket to the New World. In exchange for servitude they were offered passage to the New World, where upon arrival world sold by the ship’s captain to a landowner. As time went on the gap between the rich and the poor, who were mostly freed servants, became larger and larger. By the 1670’s tensions were at a climax causing landowners to seek alternate forms of labor.
Slavery has been around since Christopher Columbus's exploration. One thing that many people do not realize is that slaves were sold by their own people in the beginning. African Americans were sold by other superior African Americans, just as Native Americans were. Black slavery evolved in the Chesapeake Bay area during the 1800's. However, the earliest Africans in America were not slaves. The Africans were indentured servants. An indentured servant was a person that was between a slave and a freed men. Before the rise of indentured servitude, a huge demand for labor existed in the colonies to help construct settlements, harvest, and serve as tradesmen. Indentured servants was a good idea for America colonists because there was a need for cheap labor. Africans agreed to become a servant for exchange of costs paid to enter British North America. The
In one part of his diary, he said that he had considered his slaves as a part of his " large family", however, he never viewed them in this manner. But, in my opinion, if asked, Byrd might have described his pretty good relationship with his slaves who were all "his family members" and he just do what he supposed to do to his "family". By his repeated use of cruelty and violence, Byrd was not a good master. He beat his slaves often: "[September 3, 1709] .. I beat Jenny for throwing water on the couch...", "[ November 30, 1709] Eugene was whipped for pissing in bed and Jenny for concealing it…", " [February 8, 1709] Jenny and Eugene were whipped…", etc. Sometimes he gave them even more cruel punishments. Through his diaries, Byrd mentioned a slave named Eugene ( I think this was a child), who wet the bed then Byrd forced Eugene to drink a pint of urine: " [December 3, 1709] Eugene pissed abed again for which I made him drink a pint of piss." On another day, this slave holder described how he had Eugene put a bit ( a mental thing using to control horses by attaching to reins) on after Eugene has tried to run away:" [ June 10,1709] Eugene was whipped for running a way and had the [bit] put on him." For me, these punishments are so inhumane, but Byrd might not think so because he was the master who considered his slaves as unchristian- like and animalistic anyway. Byrd 's actions of how he treated his slaves