Unfree Labor In Slavery Essay

In the early 1600’s tobacco quickly became a hot commodity throughout Europe. It was soon decided that there was ample opportunity to grow the tobacco industry in colonial Virginia. Since the industry was rapidly expanding, there was an increasing need for laborers. Indentured servants were first used; however, enslaved people were soon used instead thus creating new laws to keep the enslaved condemned to servitude. In 1618 there was a great demand for unfree labor for the reason that there were newly established tobacco plantations that needed workers. Unfree labor was seen as the best way to fulfill the need of planters because they were able to get workers on their plantations that would be forced into working for them for very long periods

Slavery did not become the main source of labor until the 1660s. There are a few reasons for this shift. The first reason is the formation of the Royal African Company which had influxes of enslaved people which in turn made them cheaper to buy (Olwell, lecture 2/7/23). A second reason for the transition is that even though the enslaved were more expensive than the servants, masters were able to have an enslaved person for their entire life as opposed to the few years they would have a servant (Olwell, lecture 2/7/23). A third reason is that fewer people were coming from England to work because economic situations for the poor improved as the population stopped rising, so the plantation owners still needed laborers and there was a steady flow of enslaved people coming from Africa that they could invest in (Olwell, lecture

For instance, a law enacted in December of 1662 stated that a child's status is determined by its mother's status, so if a child’s mother is enslaved then that child is a slave as well (Forging Slavery and Race in the Laws of Early Virginia, pp. 64). There was also a law made about corporal punishment stating that a master had the right to punish and if it came down to it, kill his slave and not be charged with murder for the reason that no one would willingly destroy their property (Forging Slavery and Race in the Laws of Early Virginia, pp. 65). These laws amongst many more instilled the idea that these enslaved people were commodities, and they made sure that once someone was enslaved there would be no