Essay on Tobacco/Cotton Slavery FRQ - 1677 Words

Compare and contrast the experience of slaves on tobacco plantations in the early seventeenth-century Chesapeake region with that of slaves on nineteenth-century cotton plantations in the Deep South. What forces transformed the institution of slavery the early seventeenth century to the nineteenth century? When approaching slavery from a historical standpoint, it is a tendency to generalize the experience of slaves. However, slavery differs per region and time period. The differing climates of the Chesapeake region and Deep South determined the crops that would be grown and consequently the severity of slave labor. Likewise, over time slavery evolved from a class based system (poor indentured servants working alongside blacks) to a†¦show more content†¦Tobacco was an appealing crop for planters, for it cost pennies to purchase and sold for much more. As a result, the slave trade expanded, and many companies sought to join the lucrative trade. This is shown by the Royal Afric an Company losing its monopoly in 1698. By 1750, blacks comprised nearly half of the population in Virginia. To ensure the preservation of racial slavery, new slave codes deemed that the children of those enslaved would also be enslaved. Thus the concept of slavery for life was established. This furthered the claim of planters that the blacks they owned were in fact property or â€Å"chattels†, making the racial basis of slavery unquestionable. It is clear that America was no longer just a society with slaves— the institution of slavery was integrated with race, the economy, politics, as well as everyday life. In addition to tobacco plantations, cotton slavery was also expanding in the Deep South. As the soil became exhausted from growing tobacco in the Chesapeake area, many slave-owners found it more profitable to sell their slaves to southern plantations. Thus, though slavery remained in the Chesapeake area, the growing cotton industry moved its epicenter to the Deep South. The major forces that caused this shift will be included in the paragraph about the end of slavery. The soil was beginning to become overused because of the intensity of tobacco