The Origins of Slavery by Betty Wood

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In the book The Origins of American Slavery by Betty Woods, Woods asks what brought slavery about; Why would the English establish slavery, which was a foreign practice for England? Why West Africans, and not native Americans, or other Europeans? Originally, the English had seemingly no intentions of enslavement. However, by the end of the century, upon entering the New World, slavery of West Africans was now a widely accepted and undisguised practice of English America. The English, while still in Europe, adopted the idea of sugar plantations from Portuguese Brazil. They eventually migrated to America where they concentrated on Carolina, The Chesapeake, and New England. After learning about Brazil’s dependence on West African slaves, and their strict labor requirements, along with the inexpensive level of care West African slaves required compared to that of their indentured English counterparts, “economic rationality dictated that West Africans were the most profitable form of labor available.” Additionally, unlike indigenous servants, West African slaves would serve for life. The origins of slavery also were also brought about from European thinking from a biblical standpoint. Adam and Eve, whom it was believed that all of humanity descended from, were thought to be light-skinned by Europeans. Therefore these black-skinned people were thought to be “not part of the common creation ” and possibly “not human”. The English also believed in very real negative connotations associated with the color black. They believed that it “epitomized evil and sin” so therefore, those with black skin must embody those faults. They also linked Africans with Ham, Noah’s son who sinned against him, causing Noah to curse Ham’s son Canaan, as well as his descendants to forever be “a servant of servants”. This would cause the Europeans to see slavery as God’s punishment for sin. The
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