Examples Of Slavery In Colonial America

Superficially, a Society with Slaves and Slave Society appear to be near synonyms. However, through careful observation of the features and mechanisms of each structure, a clear distinction can be drawn. The earliest examples of Slave Societies in Colonial America are found in Virginia, which specialized almost entirely in tobacco production throughout the 18th century. Fundamentally, tobacco was the epitome of a cash crop - it was grown primarily for export, often on very large plantations that demanded an abundance of field labor. In Slave Societies, many enslaved people would often live together in close quarters, under a system where slaveowners possessed complete legal control over their laborers, while slaves held no rights at all. This
scenario provides the perfect example of a Slave Society - at its core, Virginian society was utterly reliant upon unfree labor, demonstrating how subsequent slave societies were embedded so deeply within Antebellum culture. Conversely, a Society with Slaves operates on a much smaller scale, and bound labor is not perceived as essential to the maintenance of society overall. This attribute explains why slavery was phased out so seamlessly in the North in comparison with the South - although northern states benefited from slave labor, no single individual or area relied upon it to a significant degree. As the cotton industry expanded on such a substantial scale in the 19th century, Slave Societies inevitably became ingrained throughout the South, a consummate indication that American slavery would not die out on its own.