Slavery in The Colonial United States

This article is about slavery in the Colonial era. For slavery after the United States were formed, see Slavery in the United States.

The origins of slavery in the colonial United States are complex and there are several theories that have been proposed to explain the trade.

Read more about Slavery In The Colonial United States:  Background, The Development of Slavery in 17th-century America, The Atlantic Slave Trade To North America, Indentured Servitude, Enslavement of Native Americans, The Rise of The Anti-slavery Movement

Famous quotes containing the words united states, slavery in, slavery, colonial, united and/or states:

    “I do not know that the United States can save civilization but at least by our example we can make people think and give them the opportunity of saving themselves. The trouble is that the people of Germany, Italy and Japan are not given the privilege of thinking.”
    —Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

    “I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name,—if ten honest men only,—ay, if one HONEST man, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this copartnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “I am obliged to confess that I do not regard the abolition of slavery as a means of warding off the struggle of the two races in the Southern states. The Negroes may long remain slaves without complaining; but if they are once raised to the level of freemen, they will soon revolt at being deprived of almost all their civil rights; and as they cannot become the equals of the whites, they will speedily show themselves as enemies.”
    —Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)

    “The North will at least preserve your flesh for you; Northerners are pale for good and all. There’s very little difference between a dead Swede and a young man who’s had a bad night. But the Colonial is full of maggots the day after he gets off the boat.”
    —Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894–1961)

    “I do not look upon these United States as a finished product. We are still in the making.”
    —Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1954)

    “Life is a series of sensations connected to different states of consciousness.”
    —Rémy De Gourmont (1858–1915)