Labor in Colonial America” to “The Origins of Slave labor

It is a common held belief that slavery was a direct result of racism and that it appeared suddenly. As a matter of fact, racism developed gradually and was the consequence of certain business and economic decisions. In Colonial America, there were three contending systems of production in Labor. There was the plantation system, which consisted in having large farms, and hired or enslaved laborers. Another system was the family based farming in New England …

…no longer a synonym of freedom. By 1680, a harsh punishment was applied to Blacks who struck Whites and in 1699, a law declared the Masters not liable for murders during a slave’s punishment. Finally, in 1705, the Full Slave Code was created. There was no official beginning point for slavery, but it is certain that it progressed rapidly after Bacon’s Rebellion and that slavery was not the result of racism but of a business decision.