Slavery and the Slave Economy in Colonial America
Modern observers likely know in general terms that many Africans were enslaved through the 17th to 19th Centuries, but few probably know the extent of suffering that newly enslaved Africans endured from the outset, nor do many modern observers likely know the legal sources that were used to justify and legitimize the practice in the Old and New Worlds. In fact, some authorities argue that it was not until the end of the 17th Century that racial divisions had become sufficiently codified to protect the "peculiar institution" of slavery in the New World. Given the impact that slavery has had on American society, gaining a better understanding of the origins of the slave economy and its implications for civil rights in the United States represents a timely and valuable enterprise. To this end, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature to describe the background in which slavery emerged and a description of the slave economy. Throughout most of the 17th Century, the tobacco economies of Virginia and Maryland depended of the contract labor of white indentured servants, who were employed for a term of four to five years, then freed.
Sagebrush State the Political History
The political history of the state of Nevada begins on the eve of the Civil War, when on March 2, 1861, the Nevada Territory separated from the Utah Territory, adopting its name from the mountain range the Sierra Nevada.