Until the 1600s, Europeans did not set up permanent colonies in the Americas and usually just extracted resources. The first permanent colony of Europeans was in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia (Jordan, Jr, Online), by the Virginia Company of London. To build up the new colony, labor was highly needed. At first poor Englishmen were brought in as indentured servants. In 1609, "nineteen Africans are shipped to Jamestown, Virginia, on Dutch Ships, as indentured servants" (NPS, online), who "served their masters for seven years and were then freed to establish their own livelihood and households"(McCray, Online). Servitude in America at first, was not past on from generation to generation, as the case in Africa and Europe and "it lacked the racist notion that whites were masters and blacks were slaves" (PBS, online).

More European colonies were set up in the Americas. The need for more labor was brought upon by the newly established plantation system of growing crops such as sugar, tobacco and later cotton, which demanded extreme rate of labor. Native Americans were first in line for the work force, but diseases brought on by Europeans such as small pox had killed many and others flied. Plantation system was to bring big profit in the market place, therefore many more Africans were brought to work. Africans have from the beginning resisted this move to the Americas even if their slavery was temporary (swagaa.com, online).

The first permanent slave was an African man who was referred to or called "John Punch". He like many in the first colony of Virginia tried to escape from his plantation but he was "sentenced to "serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural life." He was made a slave." (PBS, online). As the reason for colonizing Africa, the English assumed their Christianity gave them the right to enslave everyone that was a non-Christian. That at the time included most to all the Africans brought to America as well as the Native Americas, neither peoples even spoke English to covey what they believed in.

In 1641, "Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth were the first colonies to authorize slavery through legislation as part of the 1641 Body of Liberties" (NPS, online). Virginia followed in 1662, going one step further in determining that anyone born to a slave would also become a slave, all who were not Christians in their native land would be counted as slaves. This mixed the issue of race to slavery.

(picture from PBS.com)

As the number of permanent colonies grew in the 1700s and so did the market for slaves. The triangular slave trade brought over 12 million Africans to the Americas by the 19^th century bringing with it the notion that slaves were a commodity like chattel, not human beings. They were to work on even bigger plantations. In some plantations and colonies, African slaves outnumbered their European masters and many tried to run away or escape but the " authorities developed laws to keep the African American population under control. Whipping, branding, dismembering, castrating, or killing a slave were legal under many circumstances. Freedom of movement, to assemble at a funeral, to earn money, even to learn to read and write, became outlawed." (PBS, online). Stricter laws and harder punishments that stripped Africans even more of power followed other revolts.

There were now 13 colonies in North America with not only British settlers but also German, Scottish-Irish settlers. They all together sought to get their independence from their "ruler", Britain. Ironically, they themselves had become rulers, masters over Africans living in their colonies. The American Independence, formed the United States that proclaimed in its constitution "every man in equal". But again, Africans were no longer men in the eyes of the new Americans, they were chattels. In fact, in later years they were to move up from chattel to 3/5 of a man under the compromise of the Northern and Southern states.

Differences between Northern and Southern states were evident from the beginning in the new country. The Northern States were settled by a lot of religious group who believed slavery was immoral. They started to organize themselves and organizing blacks and by the 1770s they had started to build the first anti-slavery organization. "The First Quaker anti-slavery society, The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, is organized in Philadelphia" in 1775 (NPS, online). The North was moving towards a more industry related economy with the spawn of industrialization in Europe therefore relied less on slavery. The south however, still a heavy agricultural and plantation economy, depended on the free labor of slaves.

In 1789, the French Revolution spawned the first of a series revolt of peoples who were forced to servitude by those who were in power all over the world. The French peasantry took over the rule of the king, Louis XVI, and reinstated rule of the people with "libertee, fraternitee, et egalitee" as the new motto of the nation. (*) This led to the first fully successful revolt of African slaves in Haiti, from 1791 leading to Haiti's independence as a free nation in 1804 claiming victory over Napoleon Bonapart . The revolution in Haiti had become an inspiration by those who heard of it in the United States. By 1804, "Gradual abolition laws are passed in the northern states: Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey" (NPS, online).

(the following is written by me, from my notes and papers from my course BLKSTUDIES 108 with Profesor Kamara at UMASS BOSTON)

The 1800s brought with them a series of Abolitionist groups in the north. Many had thought blacks how to read and write even when it was illegal to do so. The abolitionist movement took many forms throughout its course. It was branched into many organizations and groups that differed in ideology, methods and roots in membership. They separated along the lines of religion, tactics for ending slavery, stands on the constitution and the political course in the country, and off course, race. The leaders of these various groups also took on their difference and addressed their similarities in the public forum as well as in private but they all centered along the key issue of ending slavery.

Perhaps a great place to start as for the big abolitionist movement is with the American Colonist Society, which formed in 1816. Reverend Robert Finley, from New Jersey, came up with the idea of forming an organization that helped free blacks emigrate back to Africa. He thought that black people would never really become an accepted part of American society and they would be better off in Africa, therefore he along with his organization worked to get boats to ship blacks to Liberia. Many in the North and South, even those that weren’t for abolishing slavery, supported the ACS because they saw free blacks in the north, who were reading and writing, as being a treat for slave society in the south by prompting rebellion. Those who wanted to free slaves as well joined the ACS in believing that Africa would be a better place for all black people.