The Effect of the Industrial Revolution on Slavery

1161 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Slavery in America during the late 1700s

Slavery has always been a part of human history. Therefore on cannot talk about when slavery began in North America. Soon after the American colonies were established in North America, slaves were brought in to meet the growing labor need on plantations. Although the importation of slaves continued to grow as new plantations were developed, it was the industrial revolution that would have the most profound impact on the slave industry. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the effect of slavery in the 13 colonies due to the industrial revolution.

Cash Crops in the 13 Colonies

One of the important early contributions of the 13 colonies was to grow produce to support the expanding economy in England. The produce that they grew were known as cash crops. According to Miriam Webster, A cash crop is "a readily salable crop (as cotton or tobacco) produced or gathered primarily for market." These cash crops were usually cotton or tobacco as they grew well in the 13 colonies. Cash crops were either processed locally or shipped back to England. (Citation 20, 123helpme.com)

The Rise of Slavery

In the late 1600s and early 1700s, plantation owners used indentured servants to work the plantations. An indentured servant, unlike slaves, usually would agree to work for a special number of years in exchange for certain benefits such as free passage to the colonies form Europe. But this system only worked "for a little time as these servants would work their time of servitude, and then leave on their own." (Citation 14, 123helpme.com) As a result, plantation owners started buying slaves to work in the fields instead of indentured servants as this provided more labor stability. "An increase in the amount of slaves doing work on plantati...

... middle of paper ...

...ir production of cash crops. This created an increased demand for slaves. Plantation owners were now also importing large amounts of slaves to work their plantation. "In the [late] 1700s, 3 out of 4 arrivals to America were African, most of the time, slaves" (Citation 18, Eltis 15)

It is clearly seen by the evidence given in this essay that the industrial revolution had a large impact on slavery in the 13 colonies. Before the Industrial Revolution, cash crops played a small role in supporting the motherland of the colonies. After, however, the colonies had to create more cash crops to be processed by the more efficient machines. This led to nations wanting more money from the efficient output which meant they pressured the colonies into producing more cash crops. This resulted in the colonies importing more slaves to work the plantations, to meet the demand.

Show More
Related

  • Slavery and Freedom: The American Paradox by Edmund Morgan

    1667 Words  | 4 Pages

    The use of labor came in two forms; indenture servitude and Slavery used on plantations in the south particularly in Virginia. The southern colonies such as Virginia were based on a plantation economy due to factors such as fertile soil and arable land that can be used to grow important crops, the plantations in the south demanded rigorous amounts of labor and required large amounts of time, the plantation owners had to employ laborers in order to grow crops and sell them to make a profit. Labor had become needed on the plantation system and in order to extract cheap labor slaves were brought to the south in order to work on the plantations. The shift from indentured servitude to slavery was an important time as well as the factors that contributed to that shift, this shift affected the future generations of African American descent. The history of colonial settlements involved altercations and many compromises, such as Bacons Rebellion, and slavery one of the most debated topics in the history of the United States of America. The different problems that occurred in the past has molded into what is the United States of America, the reflection in the past provides the vast amount of effort made by the settlers to make a place that was worth living on and worth exploring.

    Read More

  • 18th Century Slavery Dbq

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    As Document 1 shows, there was a huge spike in indentured servants coming over to the colonies from 1645 to 1664. This was because of the Great Migration and poor conditions in England -- the lower classes of England were enticed by the promise of the colonies and flocked there in droves as indentured servants. However, after the Great Migration ended, less and less indentured labor showed up each year, which led to the trend one sees on the “Slaves per inventory” part of the graph. Plantation owners were purchasing more and more slaves to support their plantations in the absence of indentured labor, and the slaves they purchased had kids who eventually began to survive past infancy. Another reason slavery slowly replaced the institution of indentured servitude was because of Bacon’s Rebellion and similar problems with former indentured servants, as seen in Document 5.

    Read More

  • Slavery in America between 1800 and 1860

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    Between 1800 and 1860 slavery in the American South had become a ‘peculiar institution’ during these times. Although it may have seemed that the worst was over when it came to slavery, it had just begun. The time gap within 1800 and 1860 had slavery at an all time high from what it looks like. As soon as the cotton production had become a long staple trade source it gave more reason for slavery to exist. Varieties of slavery were instituted as well, especially once international slave trading was banned in America after 1808, they had to think of a way to keep it going – which they did. Nonetheless, slavery in the American South had never declined; it may have just come to a halt for a long while, but during this time between 1800 and 1860, it shows it could have been at an all time high.

    Read More

  • Indentured Servitude in Colonial America

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    During American colonization, the economy of the south became predominantly dependent on the tobacco plant. As the south continued to develop, they shifted their focus to cotton. Indentured servants as well as African slaves were used for these labor-intensive crops because their labor was decent and cheap (Shi and Tindall 39). Young British men were promised a life of freedom in America if they agreed to an exchange between a free voyage and labor for a fixed number of years. Many willing, able-bodied, and young men signed up with the hopes of establishing a bright future for themselves in America. Unbeknownst to them, indentured servitude was not as easy as it was made out to be. Many servants endured far worse experiences than they had ever imagined. The physical and emotional conditions they faced were horrible, their masters overworked them, and many had to do unprofessional work instead of work that enabled them to use their own personal skills. Young British men felt that because they faced such horrible circumstances, the exchange between a free voyage to America in exchange for servitude was not a proper trade.

    Read More

  • Slavery in the Late 1700s and Early 1800s.

    820 Words  | 2 Pages

    Slavery had a big impact on the market, but most of it was centered on the main slave crop, cotton. Primarily, the south regulated the cotton distribution because it was the main source of income in the south and conditions were nearly perfect for growing it. Cheap slave labor made it that much more profitable and it grew quickly as well. Since the development in textile industry in the north and in Britain, cotton became high in demand all over the world. The south at one point, was responsible for producing “eighty percent of the world’s cotton”. Even though the South had a “labor force of eighty-four percent working, it only produced nine percent of the nations manufactured goods”, (Davidson 246). This statistic shows that the South had an complete advantage in manpower since slavery wasn’t prohibited. In the rural South, it was easy for plantation owners to hire slaves to gather cotton be...

    Read More

  • The Decline of Indentures Servitude

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before the 1680's, indentured servitude was the primary source of labor in the newly developed colonies. There were both white and black indentured servants. White servants had even outnumbered black servants three to one. Some black indentured servants were able to complete there time of service, and even had land and servants of their own. After the 1680's, the population of white indentured servants decreased exponentially. There were a number of different reasons why the population of indentured servants had decreased. For whatever reason, indentured servitude was a form of labor that was declining, and the need for labor increased rapidly. #

    Read More

  • The Role Of Indentured Servants In The 1700s

    1519 Words  | 4 Pages

    The role of an indentured servant in the 1700s was not a glamorous one. They came to the New World knowing that, for a time, they would be slaves for someone they did not know and the risk of disease and death was high, but the opportunity that laid ahead of them after their time of servitude was worth everything to these settlers of the New World. They came to America for the same reasons as all of the other settlers. Religious freedom, land, wealth, and a new start were motives for both settlers and indentured servants but the one thing separating most settlers from the indentured servants was that they could afford their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Indentured servants couldn’t buy their ticket to the New World, but that didn’t stop

    Read More

  • How Slavery Affected Colonial America

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    Slavery was a practice in many countries in the 17th and 18th centuries, but its effects in human history was unique to the United States. Many factors played a part in the existence of slavery in colonial America; the most noticeable was the effect that it had on the personal and financial growth of the people and the nation. Capitalism, individualism and racism were the utmost noticeable factors during this most controversial period in American history. Other factors, although less discussed throughout history, also contributed to the economic rise of early American economy, such as, plantationism and urbanization. Individually, these factors led to enormous economic growth for the early American colonies, but collectively, it left a social gap that we are still trying to bridge today.

    Read More

  • New England Colonies Essay

    1822 Words  | 4 Pages

    The plantation industry was the most important economical factor in the Southern colonies because they used indentured servants to help with there products. Indentured servants were people who agreed to work without pay for a certain amount of time in exchange for passage to America. Plantations relied on indentured servants to help with the agriculture. The good farmland allowed the servants to produce cattle, fish, grain, indigo, iron, rum, lumber, rice, and tobacco on the plantations. Tobacco was the leading export which was a wonderful cash crop, and it’s still a major industry

    Read More

  • Slavery In Colonial America Essay

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before the American Revolution, slavery existed in every one of the colonies. But by the last quarter of the 18th century, slavery was eventually abandoned in the North mainly because it was not as profitable as it was to the South (where it was becoming even more prevalent). Slavery was an extremely important element in America's economy because of the expanding tobacco and cotton plantations in the Southern states that were in need of more and more cheap labor. At one point America was a land of 113, 000 slaveholders controlling twenty million slaves.

    Read More

  • Slavery In Colonial America

    1702 Words  | 4 Pages

    When America was first founded the colonists believed that they could do one of two things. They could either ask for entire families and groups of people to come over from England to start family farms and businesses to help the colony prosper. The other option was to take advantage of the lower class people and promise them land and freedom for a couple of years of servitude (Charles Johnson et al, Africans in America 34). Obviously the second option was used and this was the start of indentured servitude in colonial America. The indentured servants that came from England were given plenty of accommodations in exchange for their servitude. They were also promised that after their time of service was complete that they would receive crops, land, and clothing to start their new found lives in America. Men, children, and even most criminals, rushed to the ports hoping to be able to find work in America and soon start their new life. However, a large quantity of them either died on the voyage over, died from diseases, or died from the intensity of their work, before their servitude was complete (Johnson et al, Africans, 34). America finally began to show signs of prosperity due to the crop, tobacco. The only problem now was that the majorit...

    Read More

  • the development of slavery in America

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    Indentured Servants helped the colonies progress their population. England at the time was over populated, and jobs were hard to find. So many people that could not afford the boat trip over to America offered themselves as to be an indentured servant for a period of time. This contractual term can last from between four to seven years. Many colonists preferred having indentured servants over slaves, cause they also helped ward off Native Americans from attacking settlers. The one big draw back of indentured servant was that they usually did not make it pass the first year of their contract.

    Read More

  • Slavery

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    The debate over the economic advantages of slavery in the South has raged ever since the first slaves began working in the cotton fields of the Southern States. Initially, the wealth of the New World was in the form of raw materials and agricultural goods such as cotton, sugar, and tobacco. The continuing demand for slaves' labor arose from the development of plantation agriculture, the long-term rise in prices and consumption of sugar, and the demand for miners. Not only did Africans represent skilled laborers, but also they were a relatively cheap resource to the South. Consequently, they were well suited for plantation agriculture. Whi...

    Read More

  • Effects Of Imperialism

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    These include plants like tea, indigo, cotton, coffee, jute, and other crops that are not food. However, this increased production cash crops took the place of food crops, which led to food shortages. Additionally, to increase their gains, the imperial powers forced the colonized people to sell these crops at extremely low prices. Because of this, the colonized people grew less food but did not earn enough money selling cash crops to buy the food they needed.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Race In A Different Mirror By Ronald Takaki

    2005 Words  | 5 Pages

    Africans unlike the Irish or the Chinese did not come willingly to America, in which they were captured and brought to America by slave ships then sold as slaves. Slaves were in high demand in which having indentured servants became less valuable in which the institution of slavery was strengthened overtime after Bacon Rebellion because the planter class now fear to have white workers for fear the social order would be disrupted (Takaki, pg. 59). Slavery helped to shape the history of the United States in which this institution made possible for the formation of the American Revolutionary ideals because slaves were running the nation through the work they were doing. This gave time for the leaders to formulate and plan the revolution. It also helped to fuel early globalization and the global market, the nation economy and capitalism through the slave trade. All these things gave rise to modern industry, modern finance, modern investment, new system of banking, in which it helped to give rise to the creation of wage laborers, in which this helped to finance the Industrial Revolution. With the rise of the cotton production, slaves became more valuable, in which cotton accelerates the value of slaves. Although slaves were an important source of labor for the Market Revolution, Industrial Revolution, and

    Read More

More about The Effect of the Industrial Revolution on Slavery

Open Document