Chapter Overview

Distinct patterns of the application of slavery emerged in the North American regions of New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the Chesapeake, the South's Eastern Seaboard, and the Lower Mississippi Valley. The differences among these five geographical areas forced a measure of diversity into American slavery so that there is no single black-slave experience that emerges today. The two demographic experience factors shared by slaves in North America were the "saltwater slave" experience of coming to the New World directly from capture on the African continent, versus the "seasoned" or "freshwater slave" experience of having labored in the Caribbean before arriving on the mainland. As the population of African slaves increased, their progeny became American-born Creoles, a multi-racial mix of African, European, and Indian ethnicity. Also important to the development of specific slave societies was the amount of interaction of the African slaves with white people. The South was especially segregated, allowing a richer dimension of African culture to be retained by slaves that wound up there. But regardless of region, black slaves established networks of familial links among themselves and friendships with Native Americans, while using the cultures and ancient rivalries of the Europeans to their best advantage when possible.

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter you should understand the following:

• The North American slave society that emerged in New England, with particular emphasis on population figures, occupations, and particular "freedoms"
• The Mid-Atlantic colonial slave experience of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
• The slave societies that grew from the Chesapeake region centered in Virginia
• The agricultural slavery of rice, indigo, and cotton production as it existed in the Lower South along the Eastern Seaboard
• The unique slave experience of the Lower Mississippi Valley, with its French influence and Maroon societies