I think one of the best ways to TRACE the "morphing" of indentured servitude to chattel race-based slavery in the US is in George Frederickson's outstanding book WHITE SUPREMACY. I used it for years in a comparative racism course about the US and South Africa because that is what Frederickson did -- with striking creative (and to my mind) convincing mining of the secondary historical literature. He traces the changes in Virginia Legislation concerning indentured servants between the 1640s and the 1680s (thereabouts) and notes that by the end of the 17th century, VIrginia had established race-based slavery --- which then of course was replicated in the rest of the South (and even many northern states).
I would argue that "racial hatred" was a construct used to justify the system that transformed even African "indentured servants" into chattel slaves --- the ability to do this was no doubt based on the emerging theories of racism (racism did not exist in the same way during the Middle Ages and into the early modern period --- otherwise, Shakespearea could never have made Othello into such a noble, tragic figure --- racism was created theoretically over the course of the 16th and 17th centuries --- at least that's how I read the history. So (as a "vulgar" materialist) I would argue that the class needs of planters in the New World led to the justifications for slavery based on the newly discovered hierarchies of "the races of humankind" --- that "white racial hatred of black skinned people" was not a GIVEN that all white Europeans were born with ---- otherwise, Virginia would not have had to work very hard to craft legislation keeping white indentured servants from marrying black indentured servants --- why the South African racists would not have had to work VERY HARD not to permit "miscegenation"!!--- it (to remember the song in SOUTH PACIFIC "had to be carefully taught!") ’ > > > > > _._,_._,_ > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#1852): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/1852 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/77034114/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
