Forced Labor In The Fourteenth Century Essay

In the fourteenth century, Europe was experiencing famine that was followed by a plague known as the Black Death that affected most parts of the continent (Davis 45). The pandemic led to the loss of almost two-fifths of the European population. Such a situation meant that fewer Europeans were able to give their services as laborers in North America since most of them had passed away, and the remaining were still recovering from the loss of loved ones and caring for the few survivors from the plague who were still ailing and recovering. Evidently, there was a shortage of laborers, and this necessitated the need to look for alternative labor.
Factors Leading to Increased Forced Labor
Social stratification was partially responsible for forced labor in North America (Davis 30; Chapter2 60). The use of African slaves resulted

The poor whites were raiding the Indian settlements. The governor at the time, William Berkley, became angry with the poor whites since he wanted to maintain cordial relations with the natives who were selling him deer skins and furs, which he was importing to Europe. In retaliation, the peasant farmers burned Jamestown to the ground. The revolt latter is dissolved, but the rebellion had a lasting impact that led to the hastening of the end of the use of indentured servants in favor of slaves. The Native Americans captured in the frontier wars continued to be enslaved but each act of aggression against them by the European colonialists made future diplomacy with neighboring Indians more difficult as they felt assaulted in their home ground (Chapter2 75). Native American captives could easily escape into the familiar wilderness where the Europeans had not yet explored and return to their original tribe. However, the number of Native Americans was small compared to that of the African