Early Colonial Development, Essay Example

The author (Luhman) reviews the motivation of settlers when colonizing the Americas, and the development of settlements. In his research, he talks about the specific issues that migrants from Europe had to face, and the reasons for introducing slavery. It is interesting to see how the article reviews the different forces that brought slave trade to life, and kept it alive for centuries. The author also examines how the abolition of slavery and the appearance of the new class: free blacks has changed the social and economic development of the country.

One of the main statements that the author (Luhman 94) makes is that the main purpose of migration to the Americans was not settling down, but getting rich. However, in order to establish farms and cotton production industrial areas, the settlers needed suitable workforce. The lack of indigenous population created a problem.

The author (Luhman 107) confirms that while in the beginning migrants from the British Isles were smaller in number and lacked economic strength, when they started to rule slave trade of the Atlantic along with the French, Spanish and Portuguese settlers and colonies became less important. The British and French soon discovered that slave trade was a profitable business, and they created an “industry” around it. In South, cotton farms were built solely around slave work, and realized huge profits as the labor cost was kept low. Even Quakers, who were the main opponents of slavery back in England were accepting trading people, as they saw the financial benefits of buying cheap workforce. Africa was motivated to maintain slave trade well into the 19^th century, as “the whole world wanted what Europe had to sell and Africa was no exception” (Luhman 110). However, Africa became dependent on the goods supplied by Europe in exchange for slaves, and failed to develop its domestic economy, therefore, in order to maintain its wealth, it had to supply even more slaves. The development of sugar and cotton production has called for more slaves, until the traders in the New World ended the process. Africa was left without income.

There is one interesting data that the author highlights: “between 1790 and 1860, slaves comprised an average of 33.4 percent of the Southern population”(Luhman 113). While they were by far the largest ethnic minority in the South, they were oppressed and not had no rights. The same situation could not occur today, and the abolition of slavery in the 19^th century started off a long process that led to the recognition of human rights.

Every aspect of slaves was controlled by the interest of the owners. They were allowed to grow their own vegetables in a patch, because that way the owner had to provide them with less food. While slaves were not legally allowed to marry, owners looked the other way when they “paired up”, as they knew family relations made them stay and not run away. Similarly, overseers molesting female slaves were dismissed, but if the son of the owner committed the same act, there was – obviously – no punishment. Slave culture, despite oppression, flourished, and revolts occurred. When black people were freed, a new social class appeared in America, and the majority of the population did no know how to deal with this. They were looked at differently than those immigrating to America during the 19^th century, and racism flourished.

As a conclusion, Luhman makes some interesting observations about the development of slavery and racism in the United States. The economic motivation behind the establishment of slavery is clear, however, it is less understandable why it took so long to recognize human rights of ethnic minorities in America, and have a strong aversion against immigrants, while the vast majority of the current U.S. population is the offspring of previous immigrants.

Luhman, Reid. “Race and Ethnicity in the United States: Our Differences and Our Roots” Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2002. Print.