African Americans:

Involuntary Migration

Koko Xayavong

History 1700

Professor Aarti Nakra

September 17, 2017

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17th Century African Americans that resided in British Colonial America were the tragic

result of an involuntary migration and slavery in which later symbolized the discrimination of

class, race, and status. About 12 to 13 million Africans were forcefully taken from their homes

and transported to various parts of North America, Latin America, and the Middle East. Since

there were not enough colonists to work and keep the colonies going, these Africans were taken

against their will to provide labor to the colonies.

In the early 17th century, slavery had not been based on race and was not an institution in

Colonial America. Before racial slavery began, there was indentured servitude. Indentured

servitude was when poor English men and women signed contracts to work for a wealthy master

or mistress for a number of years (usually five to seven). In return for their labor, they would get

passage to America, food, clothing, and shelter. Again, indentured servants were not based on

race, but rather by class. Life for indentured servants was pretty harsh in the colonies. They were

prohibited from many things like marriage, for example. They were to strictly follow their

contract and obey their masters. If they committed a crime, their terms would be lengthened by

several years. Although serving time was harsh for indentured servants, after completing their

terms, many often began new lives as tobacco planters.

Racial slavery was introduced roughly after indentured servitude. Tobacco was the main

cash crop in the early 17th century, but in the 1640s, sugar cane became more popular and thats

when the English started to rely more on African slaves. An event that lead to racial slavery was

Bacons Rebellion. Bacons Rebellion was an uprising in 1676 in which both blacks and whites

attacked Indians because they believed that Indians prevented them from their access to land and

wealth. This rebellion worried wealthy whites because they saw these servants enjoying how

much freedom they had and also how both white and white servants were coming together. So to
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end the risk of this alliance, black slavery was replaced with indentured servitude. This meant

that white indentured servants werent relied on as much as blacks, who were now strictly

controlled; This decreased the further alliances between black and white workers and also served

to heal some of the divisions between wealthy and poor whites.

By the mid 17th century, racial slavery was now an institution. Laws were passed

prohibiting blacks from many rights such as bearing arms, banning them from gathering in large

numbers, and giving slaves cruel punishments. Another law that passed was that any Africans

that were brought to the colony would be slaves for life. Slavery would now be defined by race

and perpetuated through heredity. There was huge contrast between race in the early 17th

century and the mid 17th century. In the early 17th century the laws didnt define racial slavery,

they governed only the status of the servants because they did not fully understand race relations

at the time. By the mid 17th century, people began to see and understand race relations which led

to racial slavery.

Overall, I believe that race was more important than class in Colonial America. In

Colonial America, the idea of who could be enslaved shifted from non-Christian to non-white.

Race cant really be changed, but class could definitely change overtime. For instance, even

though white people were servants, it wasnt based on the color of their skin and they could still

be treated better in everyday life versus how blacks couldnt really go anywhere without being

discriminated. Race definitely had a huge impact on Colonial America.

Bibliography
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Africans in America: Americas Journey through Slavery, directed by Noland Walker. 1998.
USA: WGBH, 1998. DVD.

American Civilizations, A Brief History, (Rice University, 2014). 31-39.

Ping Zhou. Migration - Forced, Reluctant and Voluntary. Updated March 3, 2017.
https://www.thoughtco.com/voluntary-migration-definition-1435455