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Difficulty: HardDevelopment of Chattel Slavery

"91. There shall never be any bond-slavery, villenage or captivity amongst us, unless it be lawful captives taken in just wars, and such strangers as willingly sell themselves or are sold to us. And these shall have all the liberties and Christian usages which the law of God established in Israel concerning such persons..."

— Massachusetts Body of Liberties, 1641

The provisions of the document excerpted above best reflect which of the following historical developments in the seventeenth-century British North American colonies?

  1. The early establishment of legal sanctions for slavery in northern colonies, despite their lack of reliance on a large-scale plantation system.Answer
  2. B
    The replacement of indentured servants with enslaved laborers as the primary source of agricultural labor in New England towns.
  3. C
    The formation of a plantation-based economy in the northern colonies that mirrored the tobacco-growing regions of the Chesapeake.
  4. D
    The direct intervention of British mercantilist policies designed to prohibit colonists from purchasing enslaved laborers.

Answer

The early establishment of legal sanctions for slavery in northern colonies, despite their lack of reliance on a large-scale plantation system.
The correct answer is correct because the Massachusetts Body of Liberties demonstrates that legal codification of slavery occurred early in northern colonies. Although New England did not develop a plantation-based economy reliant on cash crops, its legal system nevertheless established the legal status of enslaved people, showing that the institutionalization of chattel slavery was a colony-wide phenomenon in British North America.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the provided historical document excerpt.
The excerpt is from the Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641), a New England legal code. It states that 'bond-slavery' is generally prohibited except for captives of just wars or 'strangers' who are sold to them.
Understanding the source and context is essential for analyzing the legal status of labor in early colonial New England.
2
Identify the historical significance of the exception clause in the document.
By allowing the enslavement of 'strangers' who are 'sold to us', Massachusetts legally codified the purchase and possession of enslaved people, making it the first British colony to formally recognize slavery in its statutes.
This shows that the legal framework for chattel slavery was not exclusive to the southern cash-crop colonies.
3
Compare the legal status of slavery with the economic realities of New England.
While Massachusetts legally permitted slavery, its cold climate, rocky soil, and short growing season prevented the growth of large plantation systems, meaning enslaved labor was never as central to its economy as it was to the Chesapeake or Southern colonies.
This distinguishes between the legal codification of slavery and the degree of economic dependency on it in different regions.

Key Concept

Development of Chattel Slavery
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Development of Chattel Slavery

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