Slavery in colonial America was an important factor to the economic success of the colonies, especially the Southern colonies. Colonial America’s economic system was mercantilism, where colonies used slave labor to produce raw materials and agricultural goods to be exported to Britain, who would in turn re-export or manufacture into goods to be sold in a high markup in order to make profit. The “Virginia Servant and Slave Laws” were put into effect so that the masters would be able to receive maximum profit from slave and servant labor by preventing them from becoming free. Slavery and the “Virginia Servant and Slave Laws” are historically significant because it shows the human right violations the slaves and servants experienced under rich, white plantation owners and highlights the consequences of racial tensions when one side is given too much power. Slavery created racial divide and institutional racism, an issue still visible today in America after centuries of discrimination.
Masters heavily relied on slaves and servants to provide intensive amounts of free labor and utilized the “Virginia Servant and Slave Laws” in order for masters to retain the maximum amount of profit from the unpaid labor. The Law Making Slave Status Inherited from the Mother of 1661 stated, “That all children borne in this country shalbe held bond [slave] or free only according to the condition of the mother” (“Virginia Servant and Slave Laws,” in Handout Set, p. 2). This law made it impossible for a slave’s children to be born into freedom, which meant that masters would gain more slaves without having to purchase them. Many times masters would be sexually assaulting slave women, thereby causing them to become pregnant and bear children. Another example is in the Law Punishing Runaway Servants of 1661 (“Virginia Servant and Slave Laws,” in Handout Set, p. 2), which gave masters the ability to punish servants who attempted to run away by extending their contract and forcing servants to reimburse masters’ slave labor and damages if they escaped with slaves. Extending servants’ contract service time increased the amount of work the masters received out of the servants, maximizing profit.
Masters wanted to maximize profit from the labor of the slaves and servants because of the extreme volume of exported goods that needed to be grown and the profitability of North America’s exports. Growing rice and tobacco was vital to North America’s exports:
The southern colonies supplied 90 percent of all North American exports to Britain. Rice exports from the lower South exploded from less than half a million pounds in 1700 to eighty million pounds in 1770, nearly all of it grown by slaves … Rice and indigo made up three-fourths of lower South exports … Tobacco was by far the most important export from British North America; by 1770 it represented almost one-third of all colonial exports. (Roark, The American Promise, p. 117)
Slave labor supported the colonies in the South’s ability to export a large amount of agricultural goods (tobacco and rice) to Britain, where it would be re-exported. Tobacco was an in-demand cash crop, which pushed the South to grow as much tobacco as possible and in turn overworking the slaves for as much profit as possible.
Saying that slaves had anger towards their masters is an understatement. The overwork and mistreatment of slaves and servants by their masters caused a lot of retaliation towards the masters. The “Virginia Servant and Slave Laws” gave masters the ability to suppress rebellions, many of which were unsuccessful. Violence was often used to put down resistance and eventually became legal. In the Law Makes Killing a Slave Legal of 1669 it states, “If any slave resist his master (or other by his masters order correcting him) and by the extremity of the correction should chance to die, that his death shall not be accompted a felony” (“Virginia Servant and Slave Laws,” in Handout Set, p. 3). This law encouraged violence to be used on misbehaving slaves because killing a slave was now legal. At this point, the masters were able to use as much violence they desired thus deeming them dominant over slaves and servants. Another example can be seen in Law Authorizes Force to Suppress Rebellious Slaves, Indians, and Servants of 1672 (“Virginia Servant and Slave Laws,” in Handout Set, p. 3), where it became legal for masters to use as much force as necessary to stop slaves, Indians, and servants from putting up resistance. This law also allowed neighboring Indian tribes to capture and return runaways for a bounty.
The Stono Rebellion of 1739 is an example of a rebellion by slaves that turned out to be unsuccessful. The rebellion involved:
A group of about twenty slaves attacked a country store, killed the two shopkeepers, and confiscated the store’s guns, ammunition, and power … The group plundered and burned more than half a dozen plantations and killed more than twenty white men, women, and children. A mounted force of whites quickly suppressed the rebellion. They placed the rebels’ heads atop mileposts along the main road. (Roark, The American Promise, p. 116)
The slaves’ efforts were rendered fruitless and the power they briefly had wasn’t enough to overturn their situation. Rich white plantation owners held all the power and slavery only perpetuated their power, leaving the slaves to be trapped within slavery’s system, unable to defend their own rights and humanity. Police brutality is proof that the American judicial system is unfair due to racial profiling. An example of this was when Kimani Gray, a sixteen year old, was shot and killed by police officers after they claimed he pointed a handgun at them – which turned out to be false. According to The New York Times, Gray “adjusted his waistband in what the police described as a suspicious manner”. Police have a duty to serve their city but racial profiling and shooting an individual because of “suspicious manners” is the pinnacle of denied human rights, especially when the officers who committed the crime won’t be facing charges.
The “Virginia Servant and Slave Laws” gave power to rich, white plantation owners in the Southern colonies, who utilized slaves and servants’ labor to grow cash crops to be exported out of North America, enabling them to exploit slaves and servants for maximum profit and to suppress possible rebellions through the use of violence. This history is important because slaves and servants experienced many human right violations due to their masters exploiting them and because it is a prime example in history when an entire race of people are oppressed by another race. In the United States of America, racial minorities still face many disadvantages in society and oppression, despite it being known as the land of the free. With the current President Donald Trump, a rich, white man with his own interests in mind, it is possible for America to regress in its progress for racial equality and civil rights.