The British colonies in North America depended on slavery. They depended on it to increase their crop yields, to improve their economies, and most importantly, to make life easier for themselves. There were many events that contributed to the institution of slavery, including Key slave codes, Bacon’s rebellion, and the Transatlantic slave trade. Although historical events did in fact influence the institution of slavery, it is also true that slavery influenced the development of colonies in North America. Without it, many colonies wouldn’t have been able to produce the crops they needed to, and their economy would have failed as a result of it. For most of the British Colonies, slavery was unfortunately the only …show more content…
One very important one was the Key slave codes. These were a series of many different acts that had an enormous impact on slaves. Act XXI states, “As of December 1662, the child of an enslaved mother was also a slave for life. The statute was a dramatic departure from the English tradition in which a child received his or her status from his or her father” (Lecture 3 Contracts Labor and Slave Trade in New World). This proved that African American woman at this time had no say in what happened to their child, and the cruel truth of what slavery does to a family. This act also demonstrated the limited rights that African Americans had. Another extreme act that had a huge influence on slavery was Act III. This act stated “…Christianity was important to the concept of English identity. Legislators decided that slaves born in Virginia could not become free if they were baptized, but masters were encouraged to Christianize their enslaved laborers” (Lecture 3 Contracts Labor and Slave Trade in New World). This is extremely cruel, because in their society, you are highly regarded if you were baptized. If they were not slaves, this would not be allowed to happen to them. Furthermore, the Key slave codes played a major role in the institution of