Before reading the assigned articles, I always thought of slavery as mainly popular in the South. However, as it evolved over a couple of centuries, I was in shock as to how much slavery changed when the British took over New York. I was also surprised to read that New York was a popular slave port during this time as well and not just the Southern region.
I never knew much about Dutch control of New York in the 1600s. In high school, I mainly had to know that they were overtaken by the British later on in the mid 1600s; so I was really surprised to see how much of an impact the Dutch made during their control of the New York colony. The Dutch West India Company were pretty lenient in their policies of the colony; they were mainly concerned with monetary policy and income, so they welcomed different nationalities because occupancy of their land provided more wealth. If it was not for those they left in charge such as Peter Stuyvesant, who ruled with tough and sometimes discriminating policies, these groups would of had a life that was pretty much independent. Yet, even at times of tough policies, the company would still intervene to make sure these different groups were left with many opportunities in the new land.
Since the company was pretty lenient, that explains why slavery and slave masters were not as brutal to their slaves. In fact, there was even opportunity for slaves to have freedom for being Christian, but what struck me later on was how these policies drastically changed once the Dutch lost control. I remember how one of the articles basically stated that it was at this point where slaves were just property. They were transported in bulk numbers and when they were on the shore, they came in shackles as if they were some animal. In addition, one of the authors quoted another reading that discussed how the British no longer allowed Christianity as a means for freedom for them because they believed that they did not really comprehend the religion. It was sad to see how the British just thought that Africans were intellectually inferior and only good for work basically. Another example was the trial of Africans for the fires that occurred in the 1700s; slaves were just condemned for their inability to speak as well which was interpreted as a code for cheating.
Although all of this happened to slaves in history, I wonder how our society would be if slavery did not exist. Would we really not be as developed as a city? It is hard to say but it is definitely a question I will wonder for a long time.
