White Slavery In Colonial America
And Other Documented Facts Suppressed From The Public Know
By
Chris Masterson
SMASHWORDS EDITION
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Chris Masterson on Smashwords
White Slavery In Colonial America
Copyright © 2011 Chris Masterson
DEDICATION
Rosa Mae Bond
The wind beneath many wings!
Many aspects in modern American culture, now deemed the status quo, are actually echoes of practices that began in the first American colony, Virginia. But we would never know due to the fact the most important aspect of that era has been blotted out of the history books, White Slavery! Contrary to popular belief, America did not begin as a colony built on the labor of African slaves; it was initially built on the labor of white slaves, transported on ships like the Mayflower, from Europe. The institution of African slavery came much later.
Some may argue, white people were indentured servants! They only worked 7-years during which they were treated nice and fair. Afterwards, they blended into white society and partook in the regular exploitation of black people. This is a common notion biased historians paint from researching only to a certain point in history; the late 1600s, when the slave system made a transition from white indentured slaves to black African laborers. But if they went back further to the early 1500s, history would paint a completely different picture!
The white slave was deemed "indentured servant" because they required contracts to make their servitude, abuse and all, nice and legal. But in reality, they were slaves in every aspect of the word. Modern day historians do not take into account many indentured servants signed their contracts under duress. And many of those who did signed were surprised to discover, the moment they signed on the dotted line, they were immediately striped of human rights, put in chains and marched directly to the auction block; in a manner of speaking.
Once there, desperate plantation owners waited to fill the gaps in their labor force! Life as an indentured servant on tobacco and sugar plantations (where the majority wound up) was extremely harsh! The typical life-expectancy of any given white slave was one year. Ergo, they constantly needed replacing. Since white slaves were so costly at the auctions and came with limited contracts, the task masters were motivated to get as much work out of them as humanly possible. And they did so, most harshly!
At the time, referring to a white slave as an indentured servant was like calling a janitor, a maintenance engineer. No disrespect to janitors intended, they make more money than most of us, just wanted to make a point! With the exception of documents and public speaking, indentured servants were referred to as “slaves” by plantation owners, auctioneers, the general public, bounty hunters (yes, some tried to flee before their contracts expired) and the indentured servants, themselves. From the west indies plantations of the Caribbean to the colony of Maryland, white slaves provided the majority of forced agricultural labor.
This quote, famous among historians, was made by Benjamin Franklin in 1759, “The labor of the colonies is performed chiefly by indentured servants brought from Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany, because the high price it bears cannot be performed in any other way." Initially, slavery was not the covert conspiracy aimed at African people that modern American history depicts. On the contrary, it was a covert conspiracy perpetrated by the wealthy minority aimed at the down-trodden elements of European societies. Anyone among the dirt poor masses was a candidate for the indentured servant hoax that transformed many poor Europeans into life-long slaves.
As previously stated, as we examine the period of American history when white slavery was its backbone, we will discover the birth of many traditions still in existence today. And if you’re like me, you’ll be surprised by how much life makes a little more sense. But that aside, the concept of slavery itself did not begin in Europe. Once upon a time, long before anyone ever heard of a Europe, slavery existed. But at what point did it all begin? And once it did, was slavery in Europe or anywhere else a mere echo?
If slavery existed in the most early societies, there should be some sort of evidence to that effect. So, as a Student of Biblical Research (SoBR), I took the liberty of finding out using the most popular historical document available; the book of Genesis! One might say, "I’ve read Genesis time and time again and I’ve never seen anything about slavery." That’s because you read someone else’s version of Genesis. As a SoBR, I learned to read the original Hebrew code (language). I was shocked to find out, 9-times out of 10, it reads completely different than English versions. Howbeit, more interesting!
In conclusion, this literary work is divided into two segments. The first pertains to the exploration of white slavery in colonial America as it trickled in from the motherland, Europe. It then merges into the second segment based on Genesis, which explores the history of mankind and his relationship with the idea of slavery. Now, I’m not saying, what we find in Genesis is the absolute, undeniable truth. But I am saying, this is what was originally written; this is what someone apparently believed way back then; and, this ironically enlightens some issues so many of us debate over, today.
As previously stated, these conclusions are based on the original Hebrew code of Genesis, which means, I read what was originally written. But since you cannot and to avoid leaving you at the mercy of having to take my word for everything, I have provided quick references that are documented in Bible concordances, lexicons and dictionaries. This should suffice until you are able to stand on your own two feet with the original Hebrew code.
Slavery (The Systematic Exploitation of Labor)
The word “slave” has the etymological root “Slav” derived from the word “Slavic.” Yes, these are actual people. In 900CE, the Slavic people were the first Europeans to be exploited in a slave capacity with all the trimmings. Today, the Slavic peoples are classified into west Slavic (i.e. Czechs, Kashubians, Moravians, Poles, Silesians, Slovaks and Sorbs), east Slavic (i.e. Belarusians, Russians, Rusyns and Ukrainians), and south Slavic (i.e. Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes). Technically, the very essence or spirit of the word slave is “whites only.”
During a period of purposely perpetrated ignorance, known as “The Middle-Ages (a 1000-year period that began around 400CE),” the common folk European majority were purposely kept uneducated and ignorant. In addition, religious knowledge was encrypted in the Holy Bible, written in Latin; a privileged language that only religious authorities learned and people of royalty could afford to learn. And what is the first rule to maintaining slaves or even controlling the masses? At all costs, keep them ignorant!
In 962CE, a fellow who called himself, Otto, the Great (initially the king of Germany and later (simultaneously) the king of Italy, as well as, a very effective military leader), founded the Holy Roman Empire. Not to be confused with its predecessor, the Roman Empire (753BCE - 476CE). Any way, he encouraged expansion, colonization and missionary work into the Slavic territories, east. Long story short, the defenseless Slavic people were gradually exploited for manual labor and servitude.
But don’t get me wrong! As far as the Slavic's own self-designation goes, its meaning is understandably better than that of "slave." Their name comes from the Indo-European root, “kleu,” which basically means, "to hear" and occurs in many derivatives meaning "renown” and “fame." It is only the external designation from outside influences, stemming from the unfortunate circumstance in which the 9th century Slavic found themselves that associate their name with the fact that they were the property of others, bought, sold, chained, whipped, beat, lynched and spent all their natural lives in bondage.
Chaos and invasion made the taking of slaves habitual throughout Europe in the early middle-ages. For centuries, the town of Caffa in the Crimea (Ukraine) was called the capital of the medieval slave trade. However, the slave trade in England was officially abolished in 1102CE and Feudalism quickly filled the void. In a nutshell, this idea consisted of un-free peasants (i.e. the lowest social class, serfs) who were forced to work the fields of landowners (i.e. the lords). The most unfortunate among them were forced to work in the coal mines, as well. The serfs were legally bound to their lords. Ergo, the lord’s estate (or manor) was often measured by how many serfs he owned.
The word, serf, originated from the middle-French, serf, and can be traced further back to the Latin “servus” meaning, slave. But under Feudalism, the serf was more of a slave to the land that the lord owned. Under the law, the lord could not sell his serfs directly but he could sell his land. And when he did, the serfs associated with that land went with it. Accordingly, the serf would serve his new lord.
The slave serf had the fewest rights from the manor and were given the least. They owned no land, worked for the lord exclusively and survived on donations from the lord (i.e. crumbs from the master’s table). However, it was always in the best interest of the lords to prove that a servile arrangement existed with their slaves; this provided greater rights to fees and taxes. In theory, this guaranteed protection to the serfs from cruel landlords. But the harsh reality was often quite different. Slaves were beaten for any number of reasons.
A “villein” was the most common type of serf in the middle ages. Villeins had more rights and status than those held as outright slaves but at the same time, had a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from free men. Villeins generally rented small homes from the lord of the manor. Typically, with a patch of land. As part of the contract with their (land)lord, villeins were expected to use some of their time to farm the lord's fields. Like the serf, villeins were tied to the land and could not move away without their lord's permission. However, in other regards, villeins were free men in the eyes of the law. Villeinage was
more preferable to slave or vagabond.
If things became intense enough for a villein to sever the relationship with his landlord, he could gain freedom by running away to a different city and living there for one year. At the same time, this decision meant the loss of his land and agricultural livelihood. Thus, it was typical for newly arrived villeins to the big cities to take to crime for survival. You’ve probably guessed by now, the alternate spelling, villain, and its modern day definition and application.
To get a good handle on medieval life under Feudalism, think of it this way: The King owned all the land in the country. He typically kept one-quarter of the land as his personal property. About one-tenth of the land was given to the church. And the rest was leased out under strict rules and guidelines to the Barons.
Barons were the only ones permitted to lease land from the king. The land they leased was known as a manor. Ergo, the baron was also known as the “lord of the manor” and was in complete control of the land they leased. The barons established their own system of justice; minted their own money; and set their own taxes. In return the barons had to serve on the royal council, pay rent and provide the king with knights for military service. Like the king, the barons kept as much of their land as they wished for their own use then divided the rest among their knights.
The Knights were provided land by the barons in return for military service. They also had to protect the baron and his family, as well as, the manor, from invading hordes. Like the barons, the knights kept as much of the land as they wished for their own personal use and distributed the rest to the villeins/serfs.
The Villeins were given land by the knights. In return, they provided free labor, food and service upon demand. As mentioned earlier, the villeins were at the bottom of the social order and had no rights. They were not allowed to leave the manor and had to ask their lord's permission before they could marry. The villeins were dirt poor!
“Thrall” was the term used in Scandinavian culture to define, slavery. The existence of thralls has been documented as far back as 98CE by the Roman historian, Tacitus. During the Scandinavian Viking era (793CE - 1066CE), the state of being a thrall could be entered into either voluntarily (based on personal circumstances) or otherwise.
A person voluntarily became a thrall by surrendering his freedom to avoid starvation or to pay off a debt. Involuntary thralldom was the result of having been captured by Viking hordes and systematically sold or having been born into a thrall family. Hence, a child born by a thrall woman (i.e. thir) was a thrall by birth. However, the most common way of acquiring thralls was the capture of prisoners in foreign countries.
Thralls were kept as livestock and their master had the power of life and death over them. It was even common for a thrall to be used as a human sacrifice in the funeral of a Viking chief. And as you have probably guessed by now, the verb "enthrall (i.e. to hold someone spellbound)" is a linguistic remnant of the very ancient tradition of physically holding someone bound or in bondage.
The New World (The American Dream)
It is safe to say, Europe was built on the backs of slaves - white slaves - under which ever name you choose to call them. As previously stated, white slavery in Europe flourished for hundreds of years. But by the 12th century, it was replaced by Feudalism - a social pyramid system that, among other things, systematically exploited the bottom majority for free labor. And to say the least, Feudalism endorsed the idea, “all men are NOT created equal.”
This brings us to Columbus ... Christopher Columbus. In August of 1492, three ships; the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, left Spain to cross the Atlantic ocean in search of a short-cut to India. Two months later, they reached dry land. Since they were in India (or so they thought), they called the indigenous people, Indians. But the Indians called themselves, Navajo, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Apache, Blackfoot, Dakota, Illinoi, Mohawk, Delaware, Massachusett, Pawnee, Creek and a host of others.
Once the British began colonizing the new world, they brought all of their old habits with them. Especially, slavery! After all, who was going to do all the work? Slavery in the American colonies was part of a long established system of labor exploitation that began centuries prior in Europe. So it was inevitable that once the colonies were up and going, slavery would become a very lucrative enterprise. The demand for slaves emerged from the need of a system of forced labor to facilitate the production of staple crops: sugar, tobacco, coffee and cotton. And by far the most important staples were tobacco and cotton.
The idea to exclusively use African laborers did not immediately dawn on plantation owners. Their initial thought on the matter was to use the same white slaves from the motherland, Europe, that they've always been using. But on the contrary, modern school-of-thought tells us indentured servants, comprised of poor Europeans desiring to escape harsh conditions in their homelands took advantage of new opportunities offered in the new world. They signed contracts, trading 5-to-7 years of labor in exchange for the transatlantic passage. Once in the colonies, they were essentially well-treated temporary slaves serving as agricultural workers; and were often even taught skilled trades. Or so the powers-that-be (who ever they are) would have us believe!
Indentured Servant Contract (Instant Credit)
Modern school-of-thought would further have you believe; after the indentured servants contract expired, they joined the rest of white society, exploiting the more permanent African slaves. But nothing could be further from the truth! The earliest permanent settlement, Virginia, was established 114-years after Columbus in 1606. The first African-laborers, totaling 20, arrived to James Town 10-years later, in 1619. And they are believed to have been indentured servants, too. Ergo, the concept of race discrimination did not yet exist. Can you imagine? Howbeit, class discrimination is quite another animal!
The conception of a race-based slave system that exclusively exploited Africans and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade began around 1672! So what exactly went on the 200-years between 1472 and 1672? Well, back in the motherland, Europe, poverty became an epidemic. Especially in England! The destitute and homeless (villeins) filled the streets. It was so bad that a man would literally sell his own mother (into slavery) if it would change his circumstances. A cliché that stems from poverty stricken England. White people sold each other to slave traders on a regular basis. No one could be trusted! A man could walk into a bar, drink with a stranger and wake up the next day in chains aboard a slave transport en route to the new world. But that was only one method!
The real story behind the indentured servant contract was more along these lines ... IT WAS A SCAM! The pitchman would eloquently tell dirt poor and desperate villeins a better life awaited them on the other side of the Atlantic ocean in the new world. And for only $19.95 (or the equivalent thereof in that era), they could become the proud owners of a "7-Year Indentured Servant Contract" to pay for their passage. And once the contract expired, they would instantly become citizens of the new world, receive land, money and a trade (to make a living) that they already spent 7-years fine-tuning. Ergo, they would be set for life! The first infomercials were performed live on docks and piers!
Droves of destitute villeins quickly signed! But once they were out to sea in the middle of nowhere they were stripped of any and all valuables and put in chains! And the moment they arrived to the new world, what really awaited them was the auction block! Their contracts were sold to plantation owners for the highest bid! And the bidding probably began with the price of the transportation-per-body. It was not uncommon for a contract to be sold for over $2000. And the taskmasters were not the nicest bunch! To them, you were a slave; contract or not! And the slave traders made a killing (hefty profit) per slave sold with very little to none of their own investment involved.
Indentured Servant Contract (Penalties & Interest)
So, the indentured servant (slave) started a line-of-credit the moment they signed on the dotted line. But once the contract was enforced, penalties and interest were added for just about every little thing at the plantation owner’s discretion. Unsatisfactory work? More time added! And let the taskmaster tell it, nothing was ever done satisfactorily! Additional time was added to the contract for: lying, stealing, AWOL, having sex, having children out of wedlock and even getting sick. And you might as well have added: sneezing, coughing and wheezing! This is the precedent to the concept of credit card slavery. I mean, debt.
To be more specific, according to 17th century Virginia Law, the penalty for secret marriages (i.e. white slaves marrying without the consent of their master) was 1-year added to each respective indentured servant contract. The penalty for fornication (i.e. sexual intercourse between two unmarried slaves) was an additional 1-year per slave. And how often do you think the slaves had premarital sex? If a white slave woman was impregnated by her master (willing or not), she would serve an additional 2-years! This law only encouraged a lot of plantation owners to rape their white female slaves; which eventually led to sex slavery.
The status of bastard children (and this is the actual language of the law) was determined by the status of the mother. And how convenient, the mother was a slave! But the child would have limited service based on sexual orientation. According to the Virginia law, a male-child would serve and be treated as an indentured servant until he turned 18-years old. Under the same law, a female-child would serve and be treated as an indentured servant until she turned 24-years of age. Howbeit, this age was lowered to 21-years in 1657. Today, these same ages determine when a child legally reaches adulthood.
The penalty for running away (i.e. going AWOL) from the plantation was double-the-time absent. Some white slaves went missing for months! When finally tracked down, their contracts were extended accordingly. Children under age-16, were slaves until they turned 24-years old (still, lowered to 21-years old in 1657), provided they survived that long! Ergo, the younger the child, the higher the auction price! And finally, the penalty for hitting master was 2-years added to the indentured servant contract. This law motivated cruel masters - and most of them were - to force the white slave near the end of his contract into an altercation. And if the white slave didn’t respond appropriately, he was beaten to death. Master either got more service or a dead slave. As far as he was concerned, the slave was leaving any way.
In most cases, indentured servant contracts never ended! And the so-called indentured servants found themselves slaves for life! It was not uncommon for the plantation owner to just rip the contract to shreds after the property was delivered! Once the slaves arrived to the plantation (the manor), the plantation owner (the landlord) made his own rules and dealt his own justice! But his ulterior motive was to get as much labor out of his investment as he possibly could! Even if it meant working the slaves until they literally dropped dead! This is the origin of the figurative expression, “worked to death.”
Once on the plantation, most of the slaves did not survive the harsh living conditions, malnourishment, horrid beatings and disease. And if that wasn’t enough, many of them literally dropped dead while working out in the tobacco fields from heat and sun stroke and/or over exhaustion. The dead bodies of the indentured servants were no sentimental concern of the plantation owner. They were typically discarded right along with all other trash! Ergo, the origin of the derogatory name still used today to insult poor white people, "white trash."
As previously mentioned, white slavery was on one side, driven by the poverty and greed that existed in 1600 Europe. For instance in London, villeins crowded the streets and many would turn to a life of crime (i.e. stealing, pick-pocketing, scamming). And when caught, they had to face harsh penalties: the gallows or indentured servants of the new world. The system was rigged against the poor majority! Sound familiar? Government transports loaded with villeins would set sail for the colonies. A common misconception some historians make: villains (i.e. thieves and murderers) sometimes served their sentences as indentured servants in the new world. But it was actually, villeins.
Another method was to get them while they’re young! No child of a villein was safe from the poachers! Whenever a child was found roaming the streets alone, they would get nabbed and put aboard a slave transport to the colonies. The authorities often warned the public about “kid nabbing (i.e. the stealing of white children for enslavement).” The origin of the word (and practice) still in use today: kidnap. So if you’ve ever wondered why some people today drive around in vans looking to snatch children, this is the reason. There is a market, still. On the same note, there is still a hefty bounty awaiting those who deliver the transportees to the slave ships. Children get top dollar! No child of a villein (or orphan) back then was safe! And neither are they, today!
The conditions aboard the slave ships were deplorable! The cargo holds were packed with white slaves. And as fate would have it, a few unlucky (or lucky?) ones never made it to the other side of the Atlantic! The deceased white trash was always dumped overboard in the middle of the Atlantic. The moment the ships docked in the colonies, the slaves were immediately auctioned off! Families were even torn apart if they all came together. And the rules quickly changed if the slave was a young attractive female. The Price went up! The sex slave trafficking of young white girls and/or children for sex - gradually emerged! What are the chances, a few of those slave traders and plantation owners were pedophiles? And the young girls (and young boys) were repeatedly raped once they were out to sea, in international waters, to prepare them for their futures!
The slaves that were not sold at the auction were quickly locked in chain gangs and marched from town to town like a slave sale circus. Those who orchestrated the drives were often some of the cruelest people; armed with guns, clubs and whips. The slaves suffered severely. Typically, when the iron neck collars were removed, their necks were bruised red. The drivers eventually began calling the white slaves with bruises on their necks, rednecks. So, it is safe to conclude those who call themselves rednecks today (without knowing the true history of the term) are descendants of white slaves from the colonial period.
At any given point along the white slave’s plight beginning the moment they set foot on the slave transport, masquerading as a freedom ship, they would encounter an overseer who’s primary form of communication was the bull whip! They didn’t leave home without it! The loud cracking sound the bull whip made always rang fear and intimidation in the ears of those at the receiving end! After awhile, those overseers became known as crackers! And even today, cracker is a derogatory name expressing contempt for mean-spirited working class white people. Usually, in some position-of-authority. Most often, law enforcement.
Stop Here If This Makes No Sense!
Seventeenth Century America was more or less an unregulated capitalist haven. You were either rich or poor! And most of the poor white folks were slaves! Mainly because white slavery was a very lucrative business! It is a falsehood to think that poor white people were protected by a cloud of white supremacy that distinguished and protected them from the fates that non-white races had to endure. On the contrary, there were even free, well-to-do black people who owned white slaves! The idea of “racism” and better yet, “White Supremacy” did not yet exist! Imagine.
The whites born under the cloud of white supremacy in America, today, think that ideology always existed. That even the most poor and destitute whites were always a step above non-white races. But we are talking about an ideology that originated in Europe; all (white) men are not created equal! In early 1600 England, the ruling class called, villeins, were considered sub-human and completely expendable. Ergo, white slaves were obtained from the poorest levels of British society. This ideology did not suddenly vanish the moment they decided to colonize the new world. Like religion, they bought all their attitudes with them.
Much of the 17th century Virginia law distinguished English slaves from Irish slaves. But another source of white slaves to the new world came from Scotland! Around 1662, the judges of Edinburgh, Scotland ordered the enslavement and shipment to the colonies, a large number of rogues and others who made life unpleasant for the British upper class. The Scotch-Irish have been enslaved longer than any other race in the world's history. About 250,000 arrived in the American colonies.
[Register for the Privy Council of Scotland, 3rd Series, Vol 1, pg181, Vol 2, pg101]
These are the words of an “Unknown Poet” of the 1800s:
That night a chariot passed her, While on the ground she lay; The daughters of her master; An evening visit to pay, Their tender hears were sighing, As wrongs to Negroes were told; While the WHITE SLAVE was dying, Who gained their father’s gold.
As a matter of fact, white slaves were even owned by negroes (African-Americans) and Indians (American natives) to such an extent that in 1677 the Virginia Assembly passed the following law in their Statutes:
It is enacted that no negro or Indian though Baptized and enjoined their own freedom shall be capable of any such purchase of Christians (i.e. white people). [Statutes of the Virginia Assembly, Vol. 2, pgs 280 281]
The Disciplinary and Revenue Laws of Virginia (circa 1631 1645) did not discriminate negroes in bondage from whites in bondage.
[William Hening, Statutes at Large of VA, Vol 1, pgs 174, 198, 200, 243, 306. For records of Wills in which "lands, goods & chattels, cattle, moneys, negroes, English servants, horses, sheep and household stuff" were sold see Lancaster county records in VA colonial abstracts, Beverly Fleet]
From 1609 until the early 1800s, between one-half and two thirds of all the white colonists who came to the new world came as slaves. Of the passengers on the Mayflower, twelve were white slaves!
[Bound Over, John Van der Zee, pg 93]
Sir George Downing (the namesake of “Downing Street” in London) wrote a letter to his close friend, the Honorable John Winthrop Colonial Governor of Massachusetts in 1645, “Planters who want to make a fortune in the West Indies must procure WHITE SLAVE LABOR out of England if they wanted to succeed.”
According to Kelly D. Whitaker, author of “White Slavery, What the Scots already know,” has these stories to tell:
Alexander Stewart, along with 88 other Scots, was herded off the ship Gildart in July of 1747, bound in chains. He was a slave. He was pushed onto the auction block in Wecomica, St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Doctor Stewart and his brother William, residents of Annapolis, were attending the auction, aware of Alexander being on that slave ship coming from Liverpool, England. The two brothers paid nine pounds and six shillings sterling to Mr. Benedict Callvert of Annapolis for the purchase of Alexander.
Jeremiah Howell was a lifetime indentured servant by his uncle in Lewis County, Virginia in the early 1700’s. His son, Jeremiah, won his freedom by fighting in the revolution. There were hundreds of thousands of Scots sold into slavery during colonial America. White slavery to the American colonies occurred as early as 1630 in Scotland.
According to the Egerton manuscript, British Museum, the enactment of 1652; it may be lawful for two or more justices of the peace within any county, city or town, corporate belonging to the commonwealth to from time to time by warrant cause to be apprehended, seized on and detained all and every person or persons that shall be found begging and vagrant in any town, parish or place to be conveyed into the port of London, or unto any other port from where such person or persons may be shipped into a foreign colony or plantation.
Slavery was what the Scots have survived for a thousand years. The early ancestors of the Scots, Alba and Pics were enslaved as early as the 1st century BCE. Varro, a Roman philosopher stated in his agricultural manuscripts that white slaves were only things with a voice or instrumenti vocali. Julius Caesar enslaves as many as one million whites from Gaul. (William D Phillips, Jr. Slavery From Roman Times to Early Transatlantic Trade, p. 18).
Pope Gregory in the 6th century first witnessed blonde hair, blue eyed boys awaiting sale in a Roman slave market. The Romans enslaved thousands of white inhabitants of Great Britain, who were also known as Angles. Pope Gregory was very interested in the looks of these boys therefore asking their origin. He was told they were Angles from Briton. Gregory stated, “Non Angli, sed Angeli (Not Angles but Angels).”
Ruth Mazo Karras wrote in her book, “Slavery and Society in Medieval Scandinavia” pg. 49; Norwegian Vikings made slave raids not only against the Irish and Scots (who were often called Irish in Norse sources) but also against Norse settlers in Ireland or Scottish Isles or even in Norway itself. Slave trading was a major commercial activity of the Viking age. The children of the white slaves in Iceland were routinely murdered en masse. (Karras pg 52).
Thomas Burton recorded in his Parliament Diary 1656-1659 vol. 4 pp. 253-274 a debate in the English Parliament focusing on the selling of British whites into slavery in the new world. The debate refers to whites as slaves whose enslavement threatened the liberties of all Englishmen. The British government realized as early as the 1640’s how beneficial white slave labor was to the profiting colonial plantations.
In the British West Indies (Barbados), plantation slavery was instituted as early as 1627. The Calendar of State Papers, colonial series of 1701 records 25,000 slaves in Barbados in which 21,700 were white slaves.
[Observations on the Island of Barbados, Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, p. 528]
The list goes on and on and on and on and on. There are documented details all over the place that describe what life was like in the early American colonies. Only did a fortunate few ever live what has become the coveted American dream. And one might even go as far as to say, things are practically the same, today. Howbeit, the fortunate few may have increased in number but so have the masses who never make it to such heights. Be that as it may, our society typically begins its search into that past beginning with the Trans-Atlantic African Slave Trade.
On the docks, villeins were duped into paying a small fee to an agent (i.e. the indentured servant contract pitchman or a partner, thereof) to act as their travel guide aboard ship. Unbeknownst to them, once they boarded, they belonged to the captain. Ergo, the ship captains obtained white slaves, free-of-charge. Unfortunately for the slaves, his ship was a cargo transport with no provisions for human cargo. Therefore, captains became infamous for providing only enough food for half the trip; virtually starving their white cargo until they arrived to the new world. In addition to starvation, once out to sea the slaves were jammed into filthy cargo holds and chained.
As a result, white slaves aboard cargo ships suffered a high rate of disease and died in great numbers before reaching their destination. The number of diseased white slaves arriving was so high, Pennsylvania officials recommended a quarantine law. Ergo, an additional stage of suffering as they were stopped just short of land; forced to remain aboard a ship they had just completed a horrifying twelve week journey. In essence, white slaves were cheaper by the dozen. Actually, there was virtually no cost at all to acquire them. Hence, so very little care was given them. Thus, they were sold in the colonies for a handsome profit! White slavery was a very lucrative business!
Think about it! The captain needs money for ship maintenance, supplies and salaries. The only overhead, the printing cost for indentured servant contracts. Let's say, 200 contracts at 10-cents each. The entire voyage cost no more than about $20-$30 start-up. Once boarded and out to sea, all valuables were confiscated. What are the chances, they confiscated more than $20-$30? Finally, once they arrived to the auction, each contract was sold many times its worth.
Eventually, Africans were added to the indentured servant system. And as usual, they were a minority! At least, in the beginning. Contrary to popular belief, Africans in this system were NOT called slaves. They were called, negroes, or negro laborers. When you think about it, the word “slave” is derived from “Slavic (a European class).” Even 1672 Virginia law distinguished and referred to English slaves, Irish slaves and negro laborers (of slave status).” In essence, African slave is like saying, “Black-Slavic” ... a contradiction in terms.
Whether inside the American colonies or outside in the west Indies, negroes were always treated better than white slaves. Why? Because the slave traders actually had to pay money in order to acquire them! In comparison, they acquired white slaves in droves free-of-charge by having them sign contracts! Even on the plantations, negroes were treated better. Why? Because the plantation owners paid more for them at the auctions! In addition, negroes (Africans) had a lot of experience in agriculture. Exactly what the plantation owners needed! The dirt poor Slavics from Europe required on-the-job training.
Once upon a time, life on the plantations was good for the negro laborer. Or at least, better than it was for white slaves. On some plantations, negroes were even armed while male whites were forbidden arms. Because of the obvious higher status, white female slaves often found male negroes more attractive than their white male counterparts. The result was mulatto offspring between negro males and white female slaves. And the penalties were applied accordingly! Often, the plantation owners purposely encouraged these unions. Why? He got more time out of his negroes and white female slaves. As well as, a future generation of mulatto servants, free-of-charge.