Slavery and the Making of America - Essay Example

Slavery and the Making of AmericaHalf-freedom was the legal ability of a slave in seventeenth century America to free their children while owing slave owners or the slavery organization yearly payments. Slave owners benefited from half-freedom through these yearly payments. In return, slaves got large pieces of land in unsettled regions to serve as a “buffer” area between European colonists and the more and more unfriendly Indian tribes (Luminary_Aurora 2013). Through land grants, slavery companies and slave owners gave half-free African Americans between two and eighteen acres of land.

The children of slaves who served as soldiers were favored over others.Slave owners could sell their own children by proving they were illegitimate. Slave owners often slept with female slaves (Luminary_Aurora 2013). In the process, some of them conceived and depending on whether the owner was open about these relations, they could sell these children. Often considered an investment, slave owners could even intentionally impregnate their female slaves to place a sort of dividend. Slave owners considered the slave status something acquired from the mother only (Luminary_Aurora 2013).

As a result, selling their children was not considered immoral or cruel. In effect, slave owners could either sell such children or keep them as their own slaves in hopes to make profits off of them.Frances Driggus went back to slavery after county Gaol found her guilty of theft in February 1699. Before this incident, Driggus allegedly stole meat from Charles Trelfo several years after being granted freedom (Luminary_Aurora 2013).Works CitedLuminary_Aurora. Slavery And The Making Of America. 2013. YouTube. Web.

2015, February 6.