Revision: The haves and have not's

Kaitlan Ott

Professor Lewis-McCoy

BLST 10100

3^rd October 20116                  

                                                The Haves and Have Nots

 Race is the consequence of economic situations. Attitude about race has evolved over the years to become the dividing element it is today.

In 1609, English gentlemen established the colony of Virginia.  Being an English gentleman the individual was not accustomed to labor and held a higher social position. The colony of Virginia was dying. Gentlemen were unaware of the type and amount of work to make the colony successful.  The solution to the problem was producing a group for manual labor.   

The first Africans arrived in Virginia about 1619. The work force of early America did not discriminate.  Color was not the issue to separate.  Rather the dividing factor was money and class.  Africans along with white laborers were lumped together, slave and indentured servant. An indentured servant was a contracted worker for a specified time, usually five to seven years.  At the end of the contract, the servant could receive things ranging from land to money. Slaves and indentured servants worked side by side, socialized together, sometimes married.  Africans and whites even fought on the same side against enemies.  Bacon’s Rebellion showed the English ruling class that a merging of the two separate groups would not be in the best interest of the owners’ of plantations.  Especially in the South, where there were few legal limits on slaves. Initially “children of slaves did not inherit the bondage of their parents. The early days of slavery, a slave could earn enough money to buy his contract, own land and to marry.” The attitude of the owner was the same for the African and the European indentured servant. “Contracted servants were treated as chattel.  Employers made decisions for their workers… [the] useless  weight [upon] the welfare of the community.”  Gains made by the African slaves were similar to white indentured servant.  Some African slaves acquired freedom, others testified in court against white people and Africans owned slaves.  Color did not separate individuals who worked from sun up to sun down doing the same jobs for the same oppressive master.(Anderson, Patrick D. (2012) Supporting Caste: The Origins of Racism Colonial Virginia,Volume 2 ) 

The change in the situation and the idea of race came later in America. The idea of the ruling class was to divide and conquer.  As Willie Lynch stated, “take these differences and make them bigger…use fear, distrust and envy for control purposes”.  In order to keep the upper hand, more restrictions against the African became law.   New ideas took place in the minds of the indentured workers of being better. The African raised the social status of the white indentured servant.  The seeds of division were set and race as a negative idea was born. 

It is evident that the idea of race as a negative factor developed more out of economic necessity than anything else.  Race is a concept that camouflages real problems that needs addressing.

Works Cited

Anderson, Patrick D. (2012) Supporting Caste: The Origins of Racism Colonial Virginia,Volume 2

Shade William G. Scott William R. (2000) Upon These Shores

Lynch William Willie Lynch Letter (1712- 2009) The Making of a Slave