The British-American system of slavery developed out of the economic, demographic, and geographic characteristics of the British-controlled regions of the New World. (WOR-1) (WXT-4) (ID-4) (POL-1) (CUL-1)
A. Unlike Spanish, French, and Dutch colonies, which accepted intermarriage and cross-racial sexual unions with native peoples (and, in Spain's case, with enslaved Africans), English colonies attracted both males and females who rarely intermarried with either native peoples or Africans, leading to the development of a rigid racial hierarchy.
B. The abundance of land, a shortage of indentured servants, the lack of an effective means to enslave native peoples, and the growing European demand for colonial goods led to the emergence of the Atlantic slave trade.
C. Reinforced by a strong belief in British racial and cultural superiority, the British system enslaved black people in perpetuity, altered African gender and kinship relationships in the colonies, and was one factor that led the British colonists into violent confrontations with native peoples.
D. Africans developed both overt and covert means to resist the dehumanizing aspects of slavery.
Teachers have flexibility to use examples such as the following: • rebellion, sabotage, escape
