Massachusetts Recognizes Slavery
At a glance:
- Series: Great Events from History: North American Series
- Categories: Social Issues, Reform, and Protest, Economics
- Subcategories: Colonialism, Colonies, Settlements, African Americans, Blacks, Trade, Commerce, Slavery, Slaves, Laws, Acts, Legislation, Human Rights
- Curriculum: American Colonial History (1607-1775), African American History
- Geographical Location: Massachusetts, New England
- Date: November, 1641
Article abstract: The granting of formal status to slavery makes it an institution in the British colonies.
Summary of Event
From its outset, the Massachusetts Bay Colony endorsed the idea of unfree labor. One hundred eighty indentured servants arrived with the original colonists. Subsequent food shortages led to the surviving servants’ being set free in 1830. Unfree labor, however, continued on a private basis, and some white criminals were made slaves to court-appointed masters. Captives from the Pequot War of 1636-1637 were given over into slavery....
[The entire page is 1421 words long]
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