The Pros And Cons Of Slavery

When the first colonists came to North America they learned that land was abundant, work was backbreaking and labor was scarce. They were in need of workers who would farm the land. There were indentured servants, who paid their passage to the New World by working for an employer for a certain number of years. Although this did lessen the burden, it was not enough to resolve the issue. In 1619, a Dutch ship landed in Jamestown, Virginia and traded their cargo of twenty African slaves for food and supplies. Moreover, as the number of indentured servants declined the reliance on slave labor grew almost exponentially. Consequently, these slaves became known as chattel, in which they were treated as sole property of an owner that could be sold and bought. However, with the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments the intention to create first- class citizenship for all backfired. In actuality, slavery was still present in a way, this time completely legal, but this time under different names. Furthermore, with the southern whites reluctant to let go of their slaves, many people tried to find a legal way around the amendments. Thus began a range of extractive labor systems such as sharecropping, convict leasing, and peonage. True slavery could not end overnight because people were not willing to see past the economic benefit that immensely concealed the inhumanity and immorality of slavery.

Chattel slavery can be defined as one person having complete ownership over