Early Racism

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the treatment of African and Indian American laborers in Colonial America. The paper reveals that the fate of early modern American laborers was based primarily upon color and race. While class was an important consideration in the treatment of laborers in colonial society, the effect of class was much less important than that of color. The paper examines the effect of these racist practices and how they effected racist policy and thought for generations.

From the Paper:

"African American slavery was based largely on the idea that white Europeans were inherently superior to all other races. This inherent racism made it easy to justify slavery, and the mistreatment of slaves. Slaves were often treated as less than human, and lived their lives in servitude to their white masters.

"In contrast, white Europeans brought over to the Americas for use as labor were largely retained as indentured servants. Due to the whiteness of their skin, indentured servants were eventually granted freedom (after working off their debt) and faced no enduring social stigma. They often became landowners and leaders within the community (The United States Information Agency)."

More papers on Early Racism:

• Analytical Essay # 145426 : "Posnock's Analysis of Early Black Literature"
• Analytical Essay # 27776 : "Anti-Racism in Literature"
• Book Review # 110427 : "Racism and Prejudice in "The Street"

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