2.6 Slavery in the British Colonies

From Servitude to Racial Slavery

Early colonial labor relied on indentured servants, but by the late 1600s, planters shifted to enslaved Africans as a cheaper, permanent labor source. Events like Bacon's Rebellion (1676) pushed elites toward race-based slavery to prevent poor whites and Black laborers from uniting against them, hardening racial hierarchies into law.

Regional Variations in Slavery

The Chesapeake colonies used enslaved labor mainly for tobacco on smaller farms. The Lower South (South Carolina, Georgia) depended on large-scale slavery for rice and indigo, using the task system and drawing on West African expertise. The Middle Colonies and New England had smaller enslaved populations, often in cities, trades, and mixed farming.

Slave Codes and Resistance

Colonies passed slave codes defining enslaved people as property, restricting movement, education, and assembly, and making slavery hereditary through the mother's status. Enslaved people resisted through work slowdowns, escape, and rebellions like the Stono Rebellion (1739), which led to even harsher codes such as South Carolina's Negro Act of 1740.

Key terms

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

Uprising in Virginia that united poor whites and Black laborers against elites, accelerating the shift to racial slavery.

Task system

Labor system in the Lower South where enslaved workers completed set daily tasks, common on rice and indigo plantations.

Slave codes

Laws defining enslaved people as property, restricting their rights, and making slavery hereditary through the mother's status.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

Slave uprising in South Carolina that led to stricter slave codes, including the Negro Act of 1740.

Regional labor differences

Chesapeake: tobacco with smaller farms; Lower South: large-scale rice/indigo plantations; Middle/New England: smaller, urban/trade-based enslaved populations.

Try an AP-style question

Why did the Chesapeake shift to enslaved African labor by 1700?

1. England passed a law banning slavery
2. Native peoples requested the change
3. Fewer servants arrived and slave prices fell
4. Tobacco farming ended in the Chesapeake