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Slavery in the Infamous Colonial America

Colonial America was the early stages of the powerful country we are today. Of course to get there we've had to make sacrifices and change our views on government. One of these such learning experiences was slavery. It began back in colonial times and is still impacting our lives today. To really understand slavery, though, you need to get to the beginning of it, to the root of the problem. Slavery was an important institution in colonial america due to the Africans' realization of class, slave codes, and ready commodity, however, it divided the north and south because of the different views on economy, society, and infrastructure.

Slavery became an important institution to Colonial America in the late 1600's, early 1700's. Important white land owners, known as planters, owned great tracks of field land known as plantations. When first arriving in the new world, they needed people to work these tracks of land for them. The cheapest way at the time was an indentured servant; a man in Europe who in exchange for his passage to the new world, would work for the planter for a specific number of years. Eventually, the planters realized that the indentured servants wouldn't work. Due to their rebellions against socially inclined persons, inability to be disciplined, and ability to become sick from numberous diseases, the indentured servants were forgotten. Still without servants to take care of their land, the planters began to buy slaves who had been imported from the West Indies. Before arriving in the Indies, the slaves had come from Europe, which meant they were immune to the white mans' diseases. Also, because they were of a different race, the planters felt more inclined to treat them more as a piece of property rather than a human being. This established slave codes. These slave codes established that African Slaves were a piece of property to their masters, the masters could therefore punish their slaves with torture such as whipping. The slaves' masters also owned the slaves' families just as they owned the slave. The slaves quickly realized that they were equal to nothing in their masters eyes, so they never tried to be more than a slave. Of course, this only benefited the slave owners because the slaves were staying in their "class" and making themk easy to control than the white indentured servants. Eventually there was a downfall to these ways of life, but not for a few more decades would the planters realize that.

The involvement of slaves on Southern plantations definatley benefited the rich white man's way of life. However, in the north, white men went about life in a different manner. The northern colonists did not believe in slavery, especially since they had no need for it. The land in the north was too rocky and wild for plantations so the colonists turned to fishing, lumber, and farming animals as their way of life. Naturally, this meant the northern colonists were against slavery, also because their religion was against it. The Puritans didn't believe in the Africans' being treated as slaves. This set a natural riff between the two societies. Since the beginning of slavery the planters had also, stuck to their plantations while the northern colonists and Puritans advanced their economy from farming to fishing to lumber. Another example of this was the infrastructure, while the Puritans and colonists were building cities, roadways, and thinking about their education, the southern planters were using their same means of transportation and living the same way of life as they had in the past. It was no surprise when the north and south didn't see eye to eye and began to quarrel.

In the end, this lead to the beginning of the civil war. A war between two divided parts of a united america. It was an inevitbale battle for control that would've happened regardless if the slaves were there. The north and south just didn't see eye to eye. Although the war is over now, we still fight this battle of racism, except in a different way. Slavery was an important instituation in Colonial America due to the Africans' realization of class, slave codes, and ready commodity, however, it divided the north and south because of the different views on economy, society, and infrastructure.