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MODULE 2.6 Slavery in the British Colonies 117

soon realized that rice might prove very profitable. Although not widely eaten in north-
ern Europe, it could provide cheap and nutritious food for sailors, orphans, convicts,
These sample pages are distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
and peasants. Thus, relying initially on enslaved Africans’ knowledge, planters began
cultivating rice for export.
As rice cultivation expanded, slavery in the southern Carolinas turned more brutal,
just as slavery in Virginia had. Harsher and harsher slave codes were enacted to ensure
Copyright (c) 2024 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
control of the growing labor force. No longer could enslaved people carry guns, join
militias, meet in groups, or travel without a pass. Colonial authorities initiated military
Strictly for use with its products. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION.
patrols by whites to enforce laws and labor practices. Some plantations along the Caro-
lina coast turned into camps where thousands of enslaved people worked under harsh
conditions of the “gang labor” system, in which large groups of enslaved people were gang labor
forced to work at a rapid pace under the direction of an overseer to ensure extensive cul- A system to produce cash
tivation of a cash crop. Gang labor proved to be particularly harsh. crops based on dividing a
By 1720, Black people outnumbered white people in the Carolinas, and fears of slave work force into “gangs” who
rebellions inspired South Carolina officials to impose even harsher laws and more bru- work at a consistent pace
at a designated task. This
tal enforcement measures. When indigo was introduced as a cash crop in the 1740s, the labor system was used to
demand for enslaved labor increased further. Although far fewer enslaved people — about produce cash crops in the
40,000 — resided in South Carolina than in the Chesapeake, they already constituted eighteenth century mainly
more than 60 percent of the colony’s total population by 1750. in the southern colonies,
During the mid-eighteenth century, Africans and African Americans formed only where enslaved people were
a small percentage of the northern population: just 5 percent of the combined popula- forced to work long hours in
harsh conditions in a highly
tions of the middle colonies and New England. Some enslaved Black people worked on regulated manner.
agricultural estates in the Hudson River valley and New Jersey, and even more labored
as household servants, dockworkers, seamen, and blacksmiths in New York City along-
side British colonists and European immigrants.
Fertility rates among enslaved Africans and African Americans were much lower than
those among whites in the early eighteenth century, and fewer infants survived to adult-
hood. It was not until the 1740s that the majority of enslaved people was born in the colo-
nies rather than imported, as some southern slaveholders began to realize that encouraging
reproduction gave them economic benefits. Still, enslaved women, most of whom worked in
the fields, gained only minimal relief from assigned work during pregnancy.

REVIEW

■ How did economic trends shape slave laws in the southern colonies?

Africans Resist Enslavement

Enslaved laborers in British North America resisted their subjugation in a variety of
ways. They secretly tried to retain customs, belief systems, languages, and naming
practices from their homelands. They also secretly broke tools, burned down buildings,
ruined stored seeds with moisture, stole livestock and food, and faked illness. Some even
poisoned slaveholders. They openly resisted, too, challenging slaveholders and overseers
by refusing to work or running away. Some fought back physically in the face of punish-
ment for disrupting whites’ authority. A few planned revolts.
The consequences for resisting were severe, from whipping, mutilation, and brand-
ing to summary execution. Southern white people, living amid large numbers of Black
people, were deeply concerned about resistance and rebellion and often punished peo-
ple falsely accused of planning revolts. As more enslaved people were imported directly
from Africa, both the fear and the reality of rebellion increased.

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