The facts in Chapter 2 may be hard to see because things change from early 1600s to the late 1600s and change over time is difficult cognitively

One way to see change over time is to ask yourself what is scarce (hard to get) and what is surplus (easy to get) in different places and time.

·         Scarce things go up in value in what people are willing to pay or do for them.

·         Surplus things go down in value – You don’t ever want to be surplus so you want to pay attention to this trait of time.

 

Answer these questions on a sheet of paper and then scroll to the bottom of the page for my answers. If you missed a question, be sure to figure it out or ask.

 

1. In the early 1600s in England, land (a place to grow food to eat and to sell and perhaps to be able to vote since property was required for that privilege) was:

a. Scarce

b. Surplus

 

2. In the early 1600s in England, labor (people to work the land or to do other jobs) was:

a. Scarce

b. Surplus

 

3. In the early 1600s in the Virginia Colony, land was:

a. Scarce

b. Surplus

 

4. In the early 1600s in the Virginia Colony, labor was:

a. Scarce

b. Surplus

 

5. In the late 1600s in the Virginia Colony, land—if you didn’t have it already—was:

a. Scarce

b. Surplus

 

6. In the late 1600s in the Virginia Colony, white labor—because there was another source that had no legal rights—was:

a. Scarce

b. Surplus

The facts in Chapter 2 may be hard to see unless you realize power can be law, violence, or a combination

·         In general, the greatest power is changing the law, especially when it makes violence legal and removes one group from access to the law. Click on Primary Documents from this Era. Read with care 1660–1732 Laws about Slaves and Indentured Servants.
Tips:  Laws are usually about stopping things people are doing. Notice what whites were doing as well as blacks. The description for this primary tells you specifics. Look at it.

·         In general, violence against the government (armed rebellion) seems rarely to work as planned, even with a legal justification stated. Click on Primary Documents from this Era. Read with care 1676 Bacon’s Rebellion: the Declaration.
Additional Source: Look at page 40 of Tindall and Shi's 9th edition (the current unabridged edition) provided in Chapter 2. – It covers how the planters shift from using indentured servants following this rebellion and turn to slaves who had no legal protections because of the laws passed after 1660.

The facts in Chapter 2 may be hard to see unless you realize History is real – These people could be you.

First Resource: Read the resource on Anthony Johnson in Primaries for Chapter 2.

You need to notice what happens to these real people over time:

·         In the first half of the 1600s
- African slaves and African indentured servants who had not yet finished their years of service
- “Free blacks,” especially Anthony Johnson and his access to courts
- English indentured servants

·         In the second half of the 1600s
- African slaves
- “Free blacks” and the events with Anthony Johnson, his land, and the courts
- Landless freemen (indentured servants who completed their years of service but no land was available

 

Reminder:  For slave and indentured servant, see the definitions with the primaries.

Answers to the Questions about Scare and Surplus and What You Can Figure Out from Those Answers

1. In the early 1600s in England, land (a place to grow food to eat and sell and perhaps to be able to vote since property was required for that privilege) was:

*a. Scarce

b. Surplus

 

2. In the early 1600s in England, labor (people to work the land or to do other jobs) was:

a. Scarce

*b. Surplus

 

Look at answers 1 and 2 and you know why some English people left— both those with money and without.

 

3. In the early 1600s in the Virginia Colony, land was:

a. Scarce

*b. Surplus

 

4. In the early 1600s in the Virginia Colony, labor was:

*a. Scarce

b. Surplus

 

Look at answers 3 and 4 and you know why some planters (those who came to Virginia with money and who were the ones to vote in the Virginia assembly and make the colony’s laws):

·         Bought as much land as they could at that cheap price so there will be a shortage of land later—a scarcity made worse because of the number of people coming to Virginia.
Reminder: The death rate in Virginia was very high.

 

·         Paid for Africans when they were brought to Virginia—with some Africans becoming slaves and some (like Anthony Johnson) becoming indentured servants
Reminders:
- In this era and before, enslaving someone was legal (not a crime).
- In this era and before, enslaving people because they lost a war was considered just (not a crime).

For example, your textbook covers that making captives (what we usually call Prisoners of War or POWS) was done by colonists in New England and in the South, by the Spanish, by Native American tribes of other Native American tribes, and by African tribes of other  African tribes. 
Slavery in African by Africans was not like slavery in the Caribbean colonies or the colonies on the mainland, For more, begin on page 69 of your textbook.

 

·         Paid for the Atlantic passage of English people who were willing to serve for a period of years in return for passage, room and board (a bed and food), and a fresh start at the end of their period of service – with some receiving land at the end of their service
Reminder: the term is indentured servant.

 

5. In the late 1600s in the Virginia Colony, land—if you didn’t have it already—was:

*a. Scarce

b. Surplus

 

6. In the late 1600s in the Virginia Colony, white labor—because there was another source that had no legal rights—was:

a. Scarce

*b. Surplus

 

Look at answers 5 and 6 and you know why some:

·         Landless freemen (indentured servants who had completed their term of service) and wanted land but none was left except near the treaty boundary with Virginia colonists and the Native Americans
- Fought Native Americans
- Joined Nathaniel Bacon in his rebellion against the English governor William Berkley

·         Some planters stopped importing white English servants who might join a rebellion if they did not gain land at the end of their service and began to import African as slaves
Additional Source: Look at page 40 of Tindall and Shi's 9th edition (the current unabridged edition) provided in Chapter 2.

 

Copyright C. J. Bibus, Ed.D. 2003-2016

 

WCJC Department:

History – Dr. Bibus

Contact Information:

281.239.1577 or bibusc@wcjc.edu

Last Updated:

2016

WCJC Home:

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