"To make their owne termes": servant rebelliousness and the transitionto slavery in seventeenth-century Barbados and Virginia

Abstract

Throughout the seventeenth century the English colonies of Barbados and Virginia relied upon the institution of indentured servitude to meet their labor needs. By the end of the seventeenth century, however, both colonies had come to rely upon African slavery as the primary source of laborers. Multiple factors prompted this change, including economic and demographic changes as well as social developments in each colony. The adoption of slave labor occurred, however, in the context of servant rebellions, a factor that has not been explored in the study of developing slave societies. Multiple rebellions on the island of Barbados and throughout the Virginia countryside helped create a context in which planters perceived servants to be more difficult to control than slaves. With that mindset, plantation owners turned to African slavery to meet their labor demands, benefit them economically, and alleviate real or perceived social pressures caused by servant rebellion.