Topic: Economics
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Samuel Eveleigh’s Reasons for Slave Labor
This letter is from a South Carolina merchant to a correspondent in London. He reports on conditions in the recently founded colony of Georgia. He notes his disagreement with the...
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Sections of a Slave Ship
Slave ships were miserably crowded, as this print clearly shows. Traders put as many people as possible into the ships’ holds and gave them the minimum food, drink, and exercise...
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Sixth Essay on Field-Husbandry
In 1759, Connecticut minister Jared Eliot published a series of essays encouraging American farmers to adopt more highly scientific farming practices. In this essay, he proposed that farmers produce a...
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Slave Advertisement
Colonial newspapers frequently carried advertisements for the sale of slaves. “Seasoned” slaves had spent time working in the Caribbean islands or elsewhere. Because they were presumed to have gained immunity...
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Slave Market
This view of the slave market in Charleston, South Carolina, was painted by an English naval officer named Henry Byam Martin. The artist clearly believed that Americans were hypocrites. He...
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Slavery Broadside
Colonial newspapers often featured advertisements announcing the sale of slaves. The Africans in this advertisement were said to be from Sierra Leone. Although most slave traders tended to import many...
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Speech Against the Stamp Act
William Pitt was George III’s minister during the French and Indian War. He crafted the strategy that insured Britain’s victory over France. Later, as a member of Parliament, he opposed...
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Speech to the House of Commons
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Stamp Act
The Stamp Act required colonists to buy stamps from royal officials and affix them to a variety of documents, including newspapers, playing cards, legal documents, and other paper goods. Parliament...
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