A Changing Labor Force and Its Effects

Decades after the initial disasters of colonial Virginia were over; trouble still lurked on the horizon. In the mid seventeenth century - while Puritans were living in relative harmony with their Indian neighbors - Virginians were bogged down with internal corruption, chronic fighting with Indians, and the division of society into discrete social classes. This division was often accompanied with localized threats of violence, but some got out of hand, escalating towards the brink of civil war. Had cohesion not existed between the lower stratums of seventeenth century Chesapeake society, the transition from a labor force of indentured servants to one of slavery would have been much smoother. Yet, within half a century, a labor force had been redefined and race relations were changed forever.

In his article A Changing Labor Force and Race Relations in Virginia, T.H. Breen argues that a changing composition of the Virginian labor force in the last half of the seventeenth century propelled Virginia from chronic disorder to stability. But why was there a change in the labor force? Breen buttresses his claim by pointing to Virginian planters who exploited their two forms of cheap labor to the point of rebellion.

First, prior to 1650, planters shuttled indentured servants from England across the Atlantic in droves after they signed a multi-year contract of servitude in the mother country. Upon arrival, planters complained of apathetic workers, many of whom were sick and psychologically unfit to be in an alien land. Breen feels that the few servants that lived through their indenture often became depressed and grew bitter towards their former employers. As the mortality rates decreased, number of freed servants rose. The dis...

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...es, servants, and poor freeman that had been such a unifying force became a barrier.

When communication breaks down, dissent has no way to grow. Throughout the latter half of the seventeenth century the Chesapeake elite, when forced to, found ways to effectively silence rebellions by cutting the cords of communication amongst the lower classes. The wealthy planters simply undervalued the cooperation between the “dangerous rabble” that was slaves, servants, and poor freeman. Transitioning a labor system works best when people are left without knowledge or ways to communicate. Had the unifying forces between the servant, slaves, and poor freeman been severed earlier, Bacon’s Rebellion may never have occurred. This cooperation left a region polarized for nearly half a century, but it also set a proper example for a much more famous uprising nearly a century later.