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The roots of slavery in America began with indentured servants. These were people
brought over from Britain as labourers. Many of these people agreed to work for seven years in
return for their passage to the Americas. Others were in debt or were criminals and were forced
to work as indentured servants to pay for their debts or crimes.
The first Africans in the colonies arrived in Virginia in 1619. They were sold as
indentured servants and were likely set free after they served their seven years. As the need for
manual labor grew in the colonies, indentured servants became harder to get and more expensive.
The first slaves were African indentured servants who were forced to be indentured servants for
the rest of their lives. By the late 1600s, slavery of Africans became common in the colonies.
New laws called "slave codes" were passed in the early 1700s that formalized the legal rights of
slave owners and the status of slaves.
Slaves worked all sorts of jobs. Many slaves were field hands who worked in the tobacco
fields in the southern colonies. These slaves worked extremely hard and were often treated
poorly. Other slaves were house servants. These slaves did chores around the house or helped out
in the master's trade shop.
Slaves who worked on farms and plantations lived in small houses near the fields.
Although these houses were small and cramped, they had some level of privacy from the master.
Small families and communities were able to develop around these quarters. House slaves had
less privacy, sometimes living by themselves in a loft above the kitchen or the stables.
Field slaves were generally given one set of clothes that had to last them a year. These
clothes were similar in style to what any colonial farmer would wear when working. Women
slaves wore long dresses and men slaves wore pants and loose shirts. Slaves working in the
house usually dressed nicer, often wearing their master's old clothing.
Slaves were treated differently depending on their masters. In general, field slaves were
treated worse than house slaves. Field slaves were sometimes beaten and whipped. They were
forced to work long hours with little rest. Even for slaves who were treated nicely by their
master, being a slave was an awful life. Slaves had no rights and were under the orders of their
masters 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They could be bought or sold at any time and were
seldom able to live together for long as a family. Children were often sold as soon as they could
work, never to see their parents again.
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