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When did ideas about the religious basis for slavery begin to give way to racial ideas, and why?

When did ideas about the religious basis for slavery begin to give way to racial ideas, and why?

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When did ideas about the religious basis for slavery begin to give way to racial ideas, and why?
Back in America there could be no time for such ambiguity. Slavery was into its second generation. The slaves were becoming Christianized, and as Christians, they were demanding, and sometimes winning their freedom in colonial courts. A Maryland law of 1664 was first to put an end to this. It required all "Negroes" to serve lifetime bondage, baptized or not. Three years later the Virginia Assembly proclaimed, "that the conferring of baptism doth not alter the condition of a person as to his bondage or freedom." Finally, a 1682 Virginia enactment "made slaves of all those arriving whose parentage and native country are not Christian at the time of their first purchase... From this point on, heathen descent rather than actual heathenism was the legal basis for slavery in Virginia." (Fredrickson, 1981, р 78) Keeping the slaves on the plantations was not the only motivation for the developing ideas of race. In America white indentured servants were often little better off than slaves. Many had been vagrants or poor children gathered up by the hundreds in English cities and shipped off to Virginia to work. Others were convicts. Ireland was another major source of "bond labour." In 1652 the English House of Commons provided for "the transporting out of Ireland into foreign parts, such of the Irish as they shall think fit." It was a period of "licensed kidnapping on a large scale, with the magistrates and officers of the law actively conniving at it." (Allen, 1994, p 74) Once they arrived, these "servants" were sold to masters to pay for their passage. Once sold they could not marry without their master's permission. ey could be separated from their families. They could be whipped for various offenses. Laws were passed calling for the capture and return of runaway servants. The nightmare of the colonial elite, so far from the mother country, was that the slaves and poor servants might combine and rebel. That nightmare was realized in 1676 in Bacon's Rebellion, when white frontiersmen along with slaves and servants burned the Virginia capital of Jamestown and put the governor to flight. The rebellion was only put down after 1000 fresh soldiers arrived from England. (Zinn, 1980, p 39)
Transcribed Image Text:Back in America there could be no time for such ambiguity. Slavery was into its second generation. The slaves were becoming Christianized, and as Christians, they were demanding, and sometimes winning their freedom in colonial courts. A Maryland law of 1664 was first to put an end to this. It required all "Negroes" to serve lifetime bondage, baptized or not. Three years later the Virginia Assembly proclaimed, "that the conferring of baptism doth not alter the condition of a person as to his bondage or freedom." Finally, a 1682 Virginia enactment "made slaves of all those arriving whose parentage and native country are not Christian at the time of their first purchase... From this point on, heathen descent rather than actual heathenism was the legal basis for slavery in Virginia." (Fredrickson, 1981, р 78) Keeping the slaves on the plantations was not the only motivation for the developing ideas of race. In America white indentured servants were often little better off than slaves. Many had been vagrants or poor children gathered up by the hundreds in English cities and shipped off to Virginia to work. Others were convicts. Ireland was another major source of "bond labour." In 1652 the English House of Commons provided for "the transporting out of Ireland into foreign parts, such of the Irish as they shall think fit." It was a period of "licensed kidnapping on a large scale, with the magistrates and officers of the law actively conniving at it." (Allen, 1994, p 74) Once they arrived, these "servants" were sold to masters to pay for their passage. Once sold they could not marry without their master's permission. ey could be separated from their families. They could be whipped for various offenses. Laws were passed calling for the capture and return of runaway servants. The nightmare of the colonial elite, so far from the mother country, was that the slaves and poor servants might combine and rebel. That nightmare was realized in 1676 in Bacon's Rebellion, when white frontiersmen along with slaves and servants burned the Virginia capital of Jamestown and put the governor to flight. The rebellion was only put down after 1000 fresh soldiers arrived from England. (Zinn, 1980, p 39)
As the influx of American gold and silver gave Europe the boost it needed to dominate world trade, the trans Atlantic slave trade and the slave-based plantation economies of America became the cornerstone of the developing European economy. But the atrocities of the slave trade ran headfirst into Christian sensibilities. Such slavery also sat uneasily with Christian doctrine about the essential unity of humankind. Christian Europe had usually explained the differences between "savages" and "civilized" people with the theory of degeneration. After the flood, the theory went, Noah's children went off to populate the world. In their wanderings many forgot about God and degenerated into savagery. But all human beings were people, descended from the same father, and all could therefore be Christianized and civilized. How then could continued enslavement be justified once slaves were no longer "heathen" or "savage"?" Unless perhaps they were a different kind of people. But how could there be different kinds of people if we were all the descendants of Adam and Eve, and, even more recently, of the family of Noah who were the only people thought to have survived the flood. Creation was estimated to have taken place about 4000 BC and the flood about 2000 BC. It followed that all people on earth were therefore very closely related. Shakespeare's Othello written in the early 1600's suggests the changing and confused attitudes toward Africans in British society at the time. On the one hand Othello, who is black, is portrayed as "of a constant loving noble nature," and this mighty general of the armies of the Republic of Venice both commands "white" soldiers and is married to a "white" woman, a situation which would be unthinkable in European literature of a later period. On the other hand, his enemy, the traitorous Iago, uses Othello's features and skin colour to degrade him as he carries out his schemes. (Davidson p 24) Back in America there could be no time for Such anmbiguity Slavery was into its second
Transcribed Image Text:As the influx of American gold and silver gave Europe the boost it needed to dominate world trade, the trans Atlantic slave trade and the slave-based plantation economies of America became the cornerstone of the developing European economy. But the atrocities of the slave trade ran headfirst into Christian sensibilities. Such slavery also sat uneasily with Christian doctrine about the essential unity of humankind. Christian Europe had usually explained the differences between "savages" and "civilized" people with the theory of degeneration. After the flood, the theory went, Noah's children went off to populate the world. In their wanderings many forgot about God and degenerated into savagery. But all human beings were people, descended from the same father, and all could therefore be Christianized and civilized. How then could continued enslavement be justified once slaves were no longer "heathen" or "savage"?" Unless perhaps they were a different kind of people. But how could there be different kinds of people if we were all the descendants of Adam and Eve, and, even more recently, of the family of Noah who were the only people thought to have survived the flood. Creation was estimated to have taken place about 4000 BC and the flood about 2000 BC. It followed that all people on earth were therefore very closely related. Shakespeare's Othello written in the early 1600's suggests the changing and confused attitudes toward Africans in British society at the time. On the one hand Othello, who is black, is portrayed as "of a constant loving noble nature," and this mighty general of the armies of the Republic of Venice both commands "white" soldiers and is married to a "white" woman, a situation which would be unthinkable in European literature of a later period. On the other hand, his enemy, the traitorous Iago, uses Othello's features and skin colour to degrade him as he carries out his schemes. (Davidson p 24) Back in America there could be no time for Such anmbiguity Slavery was into its second
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