Essay On Slavery In The Middle Colonies

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Pages: 3

Slavery among the colonies Slavery was very common among the colonies. It was started early on because of high demand for indentured servants and low supply. This led to a time of desperation and people turned to slaves for labor in whatever field they chose. Slaves soon became a key part of economic growth. Even though they supported all of the economies economically, the type of treatment and work they received varied based on where they lived. Out of all of the colonized regions, the Southern Colonies were the most well known for their slaves. Some would even call it the center of slavery, but it wasn’t always the case. Either way, slavery must have been very important considering that by 1790 they made up about 35% of the …show more content…
Even though the Middle Colonies had a very diverse society with characteristics of both New England and the Southern Colonies many Dutch encouraged slavery, and it continued on when the English came. Slaves worked on farms, but a lot of work tended to be more urban than the work of the South which strictly focused on agriculture and farming. Some slaves tended to be blacksmiths, carpenters, and even nurses (considering the women). Treatment was slightly better for the sake of economic importance in the Middle, but assemblies were soon formed and some were meant to pass laws that made slavery more common than usual. Some slaves even wrote against these assemblies. Besides that, acts like running away held mixed reactions. One poster was put up in New Jersey trying to find a runaway which must have been an everyday thing in slave holding colonies. Generally speaking, when it came to slaves, the New England Colonies opposed it greatly. Surprisingly, New England was the original center of the slave trade, but maybe the influences of those like Mum Bett —who found fault in the term “all men are equal”— or the need for slaves being very little caused them to change their minds. It might have even sparked the official end of slavery by 1790 in New England. The economy was very family oriented so slaves weren’t as important as they were in the Middle