The Development of Slavery in New England, 1637 to 1700
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.1105Keywords:
New England, Slavery, English colonistsAbstract
This essay will examine the relationship between the English colonists and the other peoples in New England during the seventeenth century, with special attention to the rise of slavery. Specifically, as conflicts ultimately broke out in the 1630s and the Puritans chose to enslave the local population following these conflicts, copying their European rivals, the most pertinent question is: “In what manner did slavery grow in New England after the 1630s?” This question considers not only the enslavement of Native peoples but also that of Africans, another significant aspect of New England slavery in the seventeenth century.
From the end of the Pequot War, the first war launched by the Puritans against Natives in 1637, to 1700, the development of slavery in New England colonies was complex. Following the end of the Pequot War, Native enslavement became widespread, causing the Puritans to respond with a series of laws over time. These laws provided legitimacy for slavery. Beginning in the 1638, New England colonists started to participate in African slavery, which initially stemmed from a trading of Natives and Africans. Gradually, colonists employed more Africans in the tobacco and sugar economies in the West Indies. Following King Philip’s War in 1676, New England witnessed another sharp rise of Native slavery, but it was soon outmatched by the rapid expansion of African slavery, as Africans, in the long-term, proved to be cheaper and more competent laborers. Taken together, this history demonstrates that although the laws in New England were often uneven and unclear, slavery was present throughout in various forms and continued to grow throughout the century, thereby playing a formative role in the development of American slavery.
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