SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES

After John Rolfe became a millionaire from growing tobacco, plantations sprung up throughout the southern colonies as American settlers sought to gain wealth from agriculture. Sugar cane and tobacco were two of the crops that grew especially well and were highly desired in Europe. The southern colonies began to grow large quantities of these two cash crops. Then the crops were shipped to Europe and sold for high prices. The plantations became very successful and profitable.

Plantations needed many laborers, but most of the colonists were not interested in doing the hot, hard farm work themselves. At first, colonists captured indigenous people in the Americas and forced them to work on the plantations as slaves. When European diseases killed huge numbers of the Native American Indians, the plantations needed a new source of labor.

It was not long before a slave trade developed across the Atlantic Ocean to meet the need for cheap labor. The first Africans arrived in Virginia in 1619. The African slave trade became the solution for meeting the large demand for plantation labor, especially once indigenous people began dying.

A SLAVE SHIP ON THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

Slave catchers from west African tribes captured people in rival tribes from West and Central Africa and brought them to the west coast of Africa, where European sailors traded manufactured goods such as cloth, guns, for the enslaved African people. The European sailors then forced slaves onto ships headed to the Americas. Most Africans were separated from their families either before or after the journey.

THE SLAVE TRADE AND THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

Year after year, slave ships brought tens of thousands of captured African men, women, and children across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. This voyage became known as the middle passage. The Middle Passage describes the section of triangle trade between Africa and the Americas. Slave traders used cruel and inhumane methods to capture and transport millions of Africans across the Atlantic ocean. Because of the deplorable conditions on the slave ships, about 1.5 million African people died on his voyages.

RESISTANCE TO SLAVERY

As slavery began, resistance followed. Some forms of resistance, such as slave rebellions and slaves running away from their captors, where overt, or open. Overt Resistance is open, not hidden opposition that is expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized. Escaped slaves could be killed or beaten when caught and returned to their masters. Still, over time, more enslaved Africans began to resist. One of the largest rebellions took place in the colony of South Carolina in 1739. It was called the "Stono Rebellion" and resulted in the deaths of dozens of people. It was the largest slave rebellion in the history of the British American Colonies.

Other forms of resistance were more passive or non-violent. Passive Resistance is a nonviolent opposition to authority, especially a refusal to cooperate. Some enslaved Africans would work very slowly or brake tools that they needed to do their work. Theft and faking illness were common tactics as well. Sometimes these methods would lead to punishments. But in other cases, slave owners could do little about it. Enslaved Africans also resisted by remaining inwardly strong and expressing themselves through cultural outlets, such as with African music and religion.