Slavery Dbq

Chapter 4 Document Based Question

The ultimate reason why slavery was such a vital factor was due to the fact that it was essentially free labor. The only thing that plantation owners had to pay was the initial transaction between auctioneer and buyer. After that, there was no need to pay the slaves for their labor. Obviously, this seemed to be the most efficient way to produce goods that would supply England’s needs. Efficiency was well sustained environmentally and economically. Politically, most of the people with authority did not disagree with slavery so it was not questioned nor was it scolded as it is today.

As stated on pages 80 and 81, the removal of natives were a vital reason why slavery was needed. The story is of
Bacon’s Rebellion; a settler named Nathaniel Bacon revolted against the governor, ran him out of Virginia and burned the capital. This was a statement that was made to all of the backcountry settlers near Virginia. Indentured servants made up the most of the revolt, but this instilled fear in plantation owners. These owners were scared of rebellion therefore they wanted to transition to slave labor quickly. These settlers would know expand as far as they could, with native tribes dispersing to the Northeast, this was easy for the settlers. With even more land at their fingertips they could hold more slaves and produce more goods. Finally, the biggest factor was that the south had a clear advantage over the north because they could produce more goods due to the fact that the soil was rich and there was not such a threat of snow and frost killing crops. The south had a large production of crops because they had free labor, flat land and all the natural resources such as good soil and long periods of warm weather.

Economically, slavery was clearly the best option. “Reverend Fontaine is very clear in his letter to his brother that the use of slaves in Virginia was a decision of pure economics”(Document A) If it wasn’t morally wrong, it would still be used today. Ask any employer and they would all agree one hundred percent that free labor is the best labor. That is because money earned is pure profit. That money or value of goods doesn’t have to be divided to employees or health benefits, etc. So at the time, all plantation owners knew that slavery was the best option. In Georgia, owners thought “saltwater” slaves were more preferred than “native” slaves. This is because “saltwater” slaves had so much fear instilled from the extraction from Africa, the three month long journey from Africa to North America. This fear motivated them to work harder and they would produce more for the owners. Goods such as tobacco, rice and indigo were the most heavily produced by slaves. This is because these crops were grown in the South and that is where the majority of slaves were located.

Politically, slave labor was a contributing factor to the relations between the Colonies in the New World and the motherland, Great Britain.
The production of goods in the settlements were vital to Britain and its’ economy. In just British North America, politics were somewhat easy. The colonies didn’t face much adversity or difficulties, especially politically. The northern colonies benefited from the slave labor in the south. The southern colonies also benefited from the goods and services that the northern colonies specialized in. The north couldn’t do much when it came to plantations so they would fish and specialized in livestock which could help the south as well. The southern colonies reaped a majority of the benefits because they produced the more than the north could. Also, almost all of the kinds of crops that the south grew would go directly to the motherland while the north could profit more because the goods they produced were not enumerated goods so they could sell freely abroad. The politics in the south weren’t heavily organized because there were not many controversies or problems so they did not meet to change the ways of settlers. Moreover, since Bacon’s Rebellion, the people who had political power did not want to step in because of what happened to Governor William Berkley when he tried to tell Bacon what to
do.

The use of slave labor was the most vital trait of the southern colonies because environmentally they were the best fit for labor in the plantations. Economically they benefited because they produced such vital goods in a high quantity. Finally, the politics in the south didn’t provide many restrictions. Slave labor was the most important event of early British North America.