APUSH SLAVERY FRQ

FRQ #2: Analyze the origins and development of slavery in Britain’s North American colonies in the period 1607 to 1776. The founding of the majority of American colonies was either for an economic profit or for religious freedom. To make the colonies founded for an economic profit, a large work force was needed. For many religious colonies that turned into huge economic powers, they used the Protestant work ethic. Other colonies decided to use indentured servants originally, but this ended up turning into a large use of slaves for their work force in some colonies. Despite slavery in Britain’s North American colonies originally pertaining to only the economic aspects of the society, it actually developed into an essential part of society and it was maintained for racial, social, and economic reasons. Slaves were used economically because they were cheap labor. Socially, it was respectable in some colonies to be a slave owner. Minorities were thought of lesser people by the whites, so slavery also showed racial superiority. This essay will discuss the racial, social, and economic reasons for the development of slavery in Britain’s North American colonies from 1607-1776. Slavery was driven by racial inequality. The colonists thought of the minority races of Africans and Indians as lesser people, and many people didn’t have a problem with enslaving them for their work force. During the triangular trade, slaves from Africa were brought to the Americas. The majority of slaves went to the Caribbean, but some ended up in Britain’s North American colonies. Slaves were quite easy to obtain because they could be bought or traded for traded for material items. African slavery became the workforce for hard labor and plantations. Before the Africans arrived in the colonies, the colonists also used Native Americans. The Indians occupied the territory that the colonists wanted to settle, so they saw them as a threat and the Indians were an easy target to enslave. At the