From Carolina to Georgia, from Texas to California, slavery was an integral part of American History. Without it, the nation would not have grown as fast, nor would it have had the power to influence other nations had it did. While each of these areas depended on slavery for economical prosperity, the conditions varied from region to region. Part of this was because different countries colonized different regions; therefore, they had different moral codes, had different jobs for their slaves to do, and obtained their slaves in different ways and from different areas.
One of the earliest variations of slavery occurred in the Spanish colonies of New Mexico. In the 17th century the population was diverse, and rested on the borders of Indian Territory. By 1680, half of all Mexican households held Indian captives. They were either treated as a lower class member of the family, or ill treated with abuse and neglect. Either way you look at it, they were enslaved, forced to meet the demands of the family. Colonist also "extracted" labor from neighboring Indian villages. The situation was basically an imposed sharecropping situation on an un-indebted group of people. They would invade their farms and demand certain amounts of the Pueblo's produce and products.
Around the same time, a flux of voluntary slaves immigrated to Virginia. They were Young men and women chasing a dream of their own land and fortunes. They were known as indentured servants. This means they signed up to serve for 4 to 7 years with the promise of their own land in the end. Unfortunately, most of these servants did not live long enough to claim their land.
Lifetime slaves came into the picture during the same time. The cost for a slave was higher than a servant, so most farmers preferred to buy servants. Slave trade was controlled mostly by the Dutch. Until 1675, the black population remained around 5%. Some of them were slaves, others servants, and a few were free. Most of the black immigrants during this time were from the Caribbean, not Africa. After 1680, the life expectancy grew enough that slaves became a better economic investment, the service time was longer and owners retained rights over any children born of their slaves. This caused fewer white indentured servant immigrants and a rise in black slave labor.
English plantation colonization of the West Indies Islands provided a jumping ground to Carolina. The early 1600s brought Immigrants from England and France, including indentured servants. These immigrants had no long term plan of colonization, therefore they worked as little as possible, drank as much as possible, and barely exported enough tobacco to sustain them. In a blink of an eye, with some help from the Dutch, sugar cane crops blew up. The Dutch taught colonists how to process the sugarcane and brought black slaves to the table. Near the end of the next century, black slaves were outnumbering white planters 4 to 1. Slave rebellion rose, as did the fear of the planters. So, a strong hand and brutal punishments were used to keep uprisings from getting out of control. It wasn't long before the colonists were looking for a way out. The overflow from the islands landed in Carolina.
Economic growth was planned around cash crops and slave labor. They often traded with Indians, and soon began a business of slave trade with them as well. It became a survival of the fittest; either join the trade or become part of it. Even the colonist who deplored the activities involved in slave owning became slave owners themselves. Raid on Spanish colonies produced an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 Indian slaves by 1715. The Yamasee Indians, a previously friendly group, became fearful that they too would fall victim to the colonist. They fought back killing many and capturing more; whom they brought to Florida to sell as slaves.
As Carolinians became more dependent on their slave labor, they formed alliances with them and began to give them more freedom within their bondage. White owners worked alongside their laborers, and black cowboys were free to roam on the ranches. Blacks were also enlisted in the militia during the Indian wars, thus weakening the racial dominance and making whites more reliant on blacks. In the early 1700s blacks were the majority, and even outnumbered whites in many regions. The fear of uprising caused Carolinians to enact strict slave codes similar to those in the Caribbean Islands, and further surprising the black slaves.
Georgia began developing in the 1730s with more English Protestants, as well as German Jews and Spanish Jews. They began the conquest with outlawing slavery and hard liquor in hopes of instilling hard work ethic and morality. Uprising from native colonists caused the trustees of Georgia to lift the bands on slavery shortly before 1752.
Free and bound workers had almost always made up the larger part of immigration. These included free white laborers in search of work, white and black indentured servants, and black slaves. From 1730 to 1750 one third of all immigrants were black, by 1760 this number rose to three quarters.
Where a slave was traded to made a large impact on their lives. Heading south to Carolina or Georgia meant they would be living on large plantations with 50 or more other slaves. They had very little contact with whites, and adapted to a task system where they where they could work hard, finish their job, and be off for the rest of the day. If they headed toward Chesapeake, they moved to smaller plantations with fewer slaves. They had more contact with whites, and had to answer directly to their masters. These slaves tended to be treated more like a lower class part of the family.