Mercantilism Slavery Plantations

In order to understand what was taking place throughout history in the Chesapeake region, it is very important to be aware of what slavery was like there. The nature of slavery in the Chesapeake region was such that black people made up a very large segment of the population (Norton & Katzman, 2005). It all began in 1619 (Lewis, 1974). A Dutch vessel arrived in that year, and it carried 20 men from Africa. It docked in Jamestown, Virginia and the slave trade began there (Carr, 1991; Ciment, 2005). During the years following that "delivery" of slaves, more and more were brought to the Chesapeake region. In the 70 years between 1700 and 1770, for example, the population of slaves in that area went from 13,000 to more than 250,000 (Norton & Katzman, 2005). In 1775, the Revolutionary War began. By that time, one-third of the population...
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