Time Machine Tours....Jamestown, Virginia..1600s
It is a stormy day in Jamestown, Virginia, in August of 1619. Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, is still growing in 1619. A Dutch ship arrives in Jamestown, carrying freight and more than twenty Africans that the captain and crew captured from a Spanish ship. The captain trades the Africans for food and sets sail. Were the Africans considered slaves or indentured servants?
Historians disagree about whether or not the Africans were considered slaves or indentured servants. Indentured servants had to sign contracts or indentures to work a set amount of time, usually from three to seven years. After they worked out their time, indentured servants were granted their freedom.
Records in 1623 and 1624 list the Africans as servants, and records after this reveal an increasing number of free blacks, with some acquiring land. The same records don’t contain years corresponding with the names of the Africans which would pinpoint the end of the Africans term of servitude. Maybe some of the Africans were slaves and others were servants. The status of Africans and other servants was confusing even to the people of their time.
By 1640 in Virginia, at least one African had been declared a slave. The court ordered him “to serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural life here or elsewhere.” Some white people felt justified in carrying out this harsh sentence because the African was a non-Christian, not because of his dark skin. Religious beliefs can change but skin color is permanent and in the space of a generation, race instead of religion became the criteria to enslave blacks in Virginia and the other colonies.
By 1660, slavery for blacks had become official policy in Virginia.
What Do You Think?
(Support your answers with at least fiven online sources and three print sources. Your online sources should be history or edu sites).
1. Would a group of colonists protesting the enslavement of black people have had any impact on the outcome?
2. What conditions in Virginia made it easier for blacks to be enslaved?
3. What conditions in the world and world markets at large made black slavery profitable?
What Would You Do?
(Answer these questions with five online sources to support your answer. Your sources should be history or edu sites.)
1. Imagine that you are a tobacco plantation owner in Virginia. Why would you want to enslave black people? How would you justify enslaving them?
2. Imagine that you are a small tobacco farmer. Would you be more likely to have an indentured servant or a group of slaves? Why?
3. Imagine that you were one of the twenty plus black people brought to Jamestown by the Dutch ship. What would you do to survive?
4. Imagine that you are an indentured servant in Jamestown. Would you befriend blacks or avoid them? Explain.
Historians disagree about whether or not the Africans were considered slaves or indentured servants. Indentured servants had to sign contracts or indentures to work a set amount of time, usually from three to seven years. After they worked out their time, indentured servants were granted their freedom.
Records in 1623 and 1624 list the Africans as servants, and records after this reveal an increasing number of free blacks, with some acquiring land. The same records don’t contain years corresponding with the names of the Africans which would pinpoint the end of the Africans term of servitude. Maybe some of the Africans were slaves and others were servants. The status of Africans and other servants was confusing even to the people of their time.
By 1640 in Virginia, at least one African had been declared a slave. The court ordered him “to serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural life here or elsewhere.” Some white people felt justified in carrying out this harsh sentence because the African was a non-Christian, not because of his dark skin. Religious beliefs can change but skin color is permanent and in the space of a generation, race instead of religion became the criteria to enslave blacks in Virginia and the other colonies.
By 1660, slavery for blacks had become official policy in Virginia.
What Do You Think?
(Support your answers with at least fiven online sources and three print sources. Your online sources should be history or edu sites).
1. Would a group of colonists protesting the enslavement of black people have had any impact on the outcome?
2. What conditions in Virginia made it easier for blacks to be enslaved?
3. What conditions in the world and world markets at large made black slavery profitable?
What Would You Do?
(Answer these questions with five online sources to support your answer. Your sources should be history or edu sites.)
1. Imagine that you are a tobacco plantation owner in Virginia. Why would you want to enslave black people? How would you justify enslaving them?
2. Imagine that you are a small tobacco farmer. Would you be more likely to have an indentured servant or a group of slaves? Why?
3. Imagine that you were one of the twenty plus black people brought to Jamestown by the Dutch ship. What would you do to survive?
4. Imagine that you are an indentured servant in Jamestown. Would you befriend blacks or avoid them? Explain.