Slavery in New Netherland

Slavery in New Netherland
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Slavery in New Netherland
The first non-indigenous person to settle in what later became the New Netherlands was a man named Jan Rodrigues. He was a crew member of a Dutch Explorer and was left behind when the ship sailed away in 1613 (Hodges, 1999). Rodrigues was a black man and he, later on, played a significant role in facilitating colonists to settle in the area. The land was charming and enchanting and one colonist described it thus, “It is a pleasant and charming country, if only it were well peopled by our nation”. In 1621, the Dutch West India Company conceived the colonial province with the foremost aim of capitalizing on the fur trade. In the 1650s, the colony grew dramatically and became a crucial trade port. The major economic activity in some parts of the colony like Sandy Hook were fishing and whaling. However, the Dutch were constrained to surrender it to England some years later. As the population of settlers grew gradually, the need for cheap labor became apparent and eventually gave rise to slavery. This paper intends to ventilate how different factors contributed to the growth of slavery in New Netherland in different dimensions, and how they impacted the natives, slaves, and colonists.
The economic aspect played a fundamental role in strengthening slavery in New Netherlands. Early colonists, who included the Dutch and the Portuguese, rampantly used slaves to develop a workable infrastructure. The enslaved people did the onerous work of clearing forests, constructing roads, and other public works (Hodges, 1997).In addition, the settlers, who intended to engage in farming, used slave labor to set up their farms and plantations. In this regard, they used slaves to construct homes, mostly tents and dugouts. After that, they cleared land to plant crops such as corn, rye, and barley. Those activities required extensive labor that only slaves could readily provide. Indeed, the colonists believed that slave labor would immensely benefit agriculture. This was crucial because they supposed agriculture would significantly impact the economic prosperity of New Netherlands. In addition, industries such as the iron mines required slave labor. One notable industry at the time was Tinton Falls, which had approximately forty enslaved workers. Finally, slaveholders viewed slaves as property in New Netherlands, and they could exchange them for goods and provisions such as beaver skins and pork. As a matter of fact, slaves constituted a significant part of the white family’s wealth. It is worth noting that the economic activities would not have thrived without political goodwill from European governments.
Slavery in New Netherlands grew to a considerable degree due to political influence because European countries had vested interests. To begin with, slavery provided the much-needed labor to establish the colony. Establishing the colony was paramount since it would serve as a strategic trading point. The countries understood that slave labor would help in the massive production of commodities that would earn them huge revenues. As such, they accorded early settlers all the support th...