Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126
Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127
In this reading, Taylor emphasizes the increased politicization of the colonies and the ironic social mobility that planters experienced in Virginia at the expense of increasing popularity of using African slaves. Racial solidarity was the common theme throughout both chapters. In Virginia, the Common Planters and Great Planters forgot their differences as Great Planters adopted the customs of “condescension” in order to secure political office. In addition, after Bacon’s rebellion, white immigrants became less common in the Chesapeake, meaning that African Slaves were more utilized. Racial solidarity occurred between the Great Planters and Common Planters in order to attempt to quell a potential rebellion from the African Slaves. Taylor described the Chesapeake whites as “newly obsessed with racial difference.”
Meanwhile, in the Carolinas, something similar was happening on a racial level. The white planters attempted to pit the Indians and the African Slaves against one another; Indians were often paid to bounty hunt escaped slaves, and according to Taylor, “Ultimately, the colonists hoped to pit the Africans against the Indians.” The concept of white solidarity is important in realizing the increased exclusive “Africanization” of slavery as Indian slaves become much used.
This Taylor reading also struck me as focused on the politicization of the colonies. Although Taylor does not have too many primary-source quotes to support it, it appears as though Taylor thinks it important to note that the colonies are no longer merely religious or even religiously focused. For example, the Lords Proprietor in Carolina “assured religious tolerance” in order to attract people. This means that colonies have become more businesses than anything else. Even Georgia, which started out as an idealistic, planned colony, eventually succumbed to the economic pressure to use slavery. Taylor Simmon’s post on 9/11 about the week three readings referenced the two main focuses of chapters 7 and 11. Taylor mentions the “city on a hill” the Puritans attempted to create with their colony. This clear, religious purpose has obviously faded by the time Carolina was established. Additionally, Taylor also says that the relationship with the Indians was not a fearful one, which has also clearly changed by the contentious time period of the 1690’s.