African Americans In The 1600s

Throughout the existence of our great nation, the ideas of what constituted freedom have been varied. This was especially true for both the Native American Indians and the Africans. Even in times as early as the 1600s, the peoples of early America could not pinpoint a solitary basis for their freedoms. With inhabitants ranging from the Native American tribes such as the Catawba and Wampanoag to settlers from Europe and England, and eventually African peoples, such ideals were different in many ways: while some centered on one’s religion, others placed bearing on ethnicity while still another was simply materialistic, valuing land ownership most of all. Unfortunately, so many diverse stances on freedom were not wholly ideal – while the colonies
Materials such as cloth metal, tools, and guns subtly began to alter the Indian’s way of life. One example is the more time was devoted to the collection of trade goods. Such trades would come to be known in future as ones “in which Indians exchanged valuable commodities like fur and animal skins for worthless European trinkets” (Liberty 46). While both sides appeared to initially profit from such an exchange, over time it became clear that the colonists were receiving most of the rewards. Furthermore, as the settler population expanded within the colonies, European settlers brought more than just trade goods to the New
In 1660, the establishment of the Royal African Company saw a rapid, near immediate rise in the quantities of African slaves which were brought to the English colonies, which, in turn, caused the European slave masters concerns of rebellion to grow. According to ship captain William Dexter, “captains were cautioned not to buy all their slaves from one place [since] Africans who knew each other [and] who spoke the same language were more likely to conspire and rebel” (Transformation 44:10). Slaves had little hope back then. Occasionally, slaves’ hopes were placed in rebellion. More often than not, though, many Africans chose to base their freedom on religion, figuring compliance with English law to be the most effective path to freedom. For instance, when slaves were first brought to the colony in Virginia, Christianity played a large role in their perceived freedom. Some were eventually converted to the Christian religion: “They had been baptized and given Christian names; as Christians, they could not be enslaved for life, under English law” (Transformation