Iryna Patronyk DBQ 1 October 8, 2008 Slavery started in America after the English colonists settled in Virginia in 1607. It lasted until the thirteenth amendment to the constitution was passed in 1865. Slavery mainly took place in the southern states where there were large plantations and a lot of labor was needed. Land owners used slaves or indentured servants to do the labor on their large plantations. They had to work long hours and were treated horribly. Many large plantation owners preferred slaves over indentured servants because African slaves were stronger, more immune to disease, and did not know the land well which made it very hard to escape. African slaves were shipped to America on ships. This transport of slaves was known as the middle passage. Many soon to become slaves died on the way because of unsanitary condition, lack of movement, malnutrition, and other reasons. Many ship captains were tight packers which meant they tried to fit as many slaves as possible into the ship. BY doing this they thought they would earn more money by selling more slaves, but in the end more died because of the conditions. The captains that were not tight packers still lost some slaves on the way, but not as many. Some plantation owners preferred indentured servants. Indentured servants had to sign a contract agreeing that they will work for the owner of the plantation for however many years in return for the payment of the trip to America. Indentured servants were not as immune as Africans to disease, but were cheaper. After the contract was over many servants still stayed with their owners until death because they did not know where to go or what to do, while many African slaves soon bought their freedom and became owners of slaves themselves. In Virginia in the year 1671 there were two thousand black slaves and six thousand indentured servants which showed that most liked indentured servants. Only fifteen hundred English, Scots, and Irish came during that...