The onset of race slavery in the American colonies had begun as early as the 17th century. Slavery then became a dominant institution in the mainland colonies, and had caused terrible changes in the way Americans lived. Slavery became institutionalized because more slaves were needed to meet a high demand for labor.
African slavery was not a sure thing for the North American colonies. At the end of the 17th century there were some Africans in the north settlements, but they were few, and they weren't slaves. They were more level with European servants bound by an indenture as indentured servants. Early Puritan settlers while searching for sources of labor and for markets started exchanging goods for slaves in the Caribbean, but in 1645 a New Hampshire resident was ordered to give up a slave he had purchased in Boston. He had been taken from Africa, and not captured in war; slavery was a lot less profound at this time. There were early efforts to separate Africans from Europeans, for example a 1643 law which taxes productive field hands including African American women, but does not tax white women.(Jones, 86-87) With the restoration of Charles II, England's new king, in 1660 tobacco planters passed a series of laws to show distinctions between indentured servants and slaves. Two years later in a reversal of precedent, Virginia's General Assembly made slavery a hereditary condition by ruling that children will now inherit their mother's status instead of their father's. African Americans had lost the most of their rights.(Jones, 88) Bacon's Rebellion was an uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon in the Chesapeake region in 1676. Bacon's followers were diverse slaves and even free men. After Bacon died, the fight continued and they eventually lost when military reinforcements arrived from England.(Jones, 89) England had taken a small role in the Atlantic slave trade until Charles II chartered the Royal African Company or RAC. This company sent merchant ships on a...