Slavery+In+the+American+Colonies


 * Slavery in the Northern Colonies**

In the northern American colonies, there was not much of a need for slaves at first. This was the last area of the Americas that slavery arrived in. This was because of a few reasons. As expressed in __The Slave Trade__, unlike the colonies farther to the south, the northern climate could not support large plantations, since they needed long, hot, summers and a lot of rain. Also, since the northern British settlements were small, there was not much of a need for large numbers of laborers. Finally, the British came to America for religious freedom instead of for wealth, so they were not looking for ways of profit. For this reason, they did not immediately develop slavery. However, the slave trade grew, and merchants made money by selling and trading slaves. Eventually, some slaves worked as servants in people's houses and farms, and some worked on the docks. Generally, the slave owners in the northern colonies treated slaves better than those on the plantations in the south. But, the slave population never grew as large as it did in the south. Near the middle of the 1700's, African Americans made up about 30 percent of the population of the northern colonies. Since these slaves received better treatment, they also lived longer than the slaves in the south.


 * Slavery in the Middle Colonies**

The middle colonies was originally the most popular region for slaves, especially around the Chesapeake and Georgia. According to __The Slave Trade__, in 1770, three out of every five English families in the Chesapeake owned at least one slave. The book also expresses that the work the slaves were doing in the Chesapeake region was not as hard as the work it took to grow sugarcane, which is what the slaves in the West Indies were doing. Also, because the price of slaves in the middle colonies was high, unlike in the West Indies, slave owners could not afford to keep buying slaves if they died, so they were treated decently. Slavery did grow quickly in the Middle colonies though. By 1700, slaves were about ten percent of the population, which was about 10,000 people. But, 20 years later, slaves were about 20 percent of the population, which was about 32,000 people. But, in the 1750's there were around 120,000 slaves in the colony of Virginia. When they were not working, they usually stayed in very small living spaces. Most of the time, these had dirt floors and remained unfurnished. As explained by the book __Life Under Slavery__, families might have been provided with a blanket, a mill for grinding their corn, and and iron pot for cooking. They wore clothes made from wool or cotton that they spun themselves. Some slaves grew gardens for themselves in order to have a larger variety of food for meals, and sometimes they even hunted animals. Even with such busy lives, slaves found some time to relax. They told folktales and songs, which also helped pass down history and beliefs. Although slaves in the middle colonies did not have much time to spare, they were able to develop their own culture and customs.


 * Slavery in the Southern Colonies**

Most of the people in the south were not slave owners, and many of those that were, like in the north, owned only a few slaves who worked as servants in the house or farm. According to __The Slave Trade__, very few people in the southern colonies owned large numbers of slaves. Many slaves in large numbers on plantations grew tobacco, which came from the American Indians and became very popular in Britain. Since tobacco took a lot of labor that lasted for most of the year, the colonist realized that the least expensive method of getting people to do the work required was to use slave labor. As early as the age of seven, the slaves were put in the fields to work, and when they became too old to work in the fields, they took care of the children whose mothers were in the fields. The field work took up most of the slaves' time.

**For information about the slave trade, please click here.** [|Here is a slide show that has pictures and tells about slavery.]