Edmund Morgan Slavery

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“American Slavery, American Freedom” by Edmund Morgan is an analytical view of Virginia and its relationship with slavery and freedom. Morgan attempts to examine the history of slavery in Virginia as they also push for freedom. Virginia, being the home of many who were dedicated to freedom also became a state built on the backs of slavery. In this book Morgan tells the history of Virginia from beginning to end. He examines the economic life styles they chose and how it became focused on tobacco growth. This growth, which sparked a need for slavery, leads to the overall debate of freedom and slavery. Virginia gained its name in 1585 when Sir Walter Raleigh sponsored an attempt to settle in America. This was the first attempt, and …show more content…
Virginia began increasing in size as the years went by. However, it began to grow on the backs of slavery. According to Morgan, “Slavery is a mode of compulsion that has often prevailed where land is abundant, and Virginians had been drifting toward it from the time when they first found something profitable to work at (296)”. With the increasing demand for tobacco, labor and land began to be needed more in bulks. The colony eventually became more prosperous due to the tobacco market. However, growing tobacco was a long and tedious job. The colonists who had the land or could afford it were not happy with the increased farm work. Thus increasing the need for slave …show more content…
The bigger farm owners felt that it was more profitable to buy African American slaves who would forever be bond to them. They could never go free. African Americans slaves began to be more available to the Virginia people. Slaves were sold according to sex, age, and condition. Many purchased also went unknown. The colony’s council or census did not even recognize how many African American slaves were being imported into Virginia. The slaves began to be dealt more like property than people. It was hard for the owners to get the African American slaves to work. They lacked motivation. They saw no hope at the end of the tunnel. They were not promised anything in return for the hard labor. Some farm owners promised them freedom if they worked hard for a number of years. However, this sometimes did not work. These labor storages became an epidemic. Thus, increasing the need for more servants. This made Virginia dependent on slavery. Morgan stated, “They converted to slavery simply by buying slaves instead of servants (297)”. Planters treated their indentured servants so poorly fewer people from England began indenturing themselves to farmers. People were not wanting to make that trip to be treated and live worse than they were in
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