History Essay

When the Europeans began to colonize the Western World one of the first colonies to establish sugar plantations was an English colony in Barbados. In order to support themselves the English required a labour force that was composed of indentured European servants and African slaves. This paper will discuss that although it appeared obvious that the indentured servants were being treated far worse than the African slaves, the context in which the slaves were viewed made the mistreatment of the indentured servants appear worse. Through an excerpt from Richard Ligon's book the reader gains a broader understanding of the ill treatment of both the indentured servants and the African slaves, revealing a bias by Ligon, created by the discrimination of race. The ideologies of discrimination based on race, as well as the restrictions on diet and physical abuse at the hands of the European Masters, are all comparable between the African slaves and indentured European servants.

The racial inequalities between the African slaves and the white Europeans, justified to the Europeans the ways in which they could abuse and mistreat the African slaves. This view allowed other Europeans to view the mistreatment of indentured servants as being treated far worse. Although it is undeniable that both groups were subjected to abuse, Richard Ligon's account suggests that the abuse and labour that was forced onto the white indentured servants was worse, not because the African American slaves were harmed less, but because Europeans did not view the slaves as actual people and it was inhumane for a Christian to harm another Christian in this manner. This can be seen when Ligon accounts, "Truly, I have seen such cruelty there done to servants, as I did not think one Christian could have done to another." Ligon's account maintains this perspective throughout the entire reading, which is that the abuse of a white man is much worse than the abuse of a coloured man. This ideology can be seen again when the African slaves are reduced to a sub-human level when they are referred to as animals in Ligon's account, "and everyone of them knows his better, and gives him precedence, as Cows do one another in passing through a narrow gate for, the most of them are as near beats as may be." The view that Europeans held, that the slaves were the lesser race, is extremely important to realize, because it is the structure for the remainder of Ligon's account. Therefore, this realization begins to give one the idea that although the servants were treated worse in some areas, the perceptions of mistreatment between the African slaves and indentured servants was blurred due to the inequality of the subordinate class.

Another example of how the indentured servants were seemingly treated worse than the African slaves can be seen specifically through the restrictions put on their diets. On the plantations, the indentured servants were subject to harsh restrictions on their diets in terms of the nutrition and quantity of food which the servants were given. The rations which they were allotted consisted of basic foods, most of which was unsubstantial when considering the necessities for a well rounded diet. Foods such as potatoes, gruel and beans were the staple foods in the servant's diets and were expected to sustain them throughout their long hours of labour, which proved fatal for some. In comparison, the slaves were often given the same diet restrictions which were unsatisfactory to the slaves, until they were given Plantains (fruits),. Although both diets were seemingly similar in terms of restrictions, it appears that the lack of nutritious food was okay to exclude from the slaves diet because they did not know otherwise. However, it was seen as cruel and inhumane by Ligon to enforce this diet on the indentured servants. Consequently, although similar, the cruelty of the food restrictions placed on the indentured servants was perceived as more inhumane, while the same restrictions placed on the slaves was accepted, which again proves that the inequality between the two races impacted the way that Europeans viewed the ill treatment of the indentured servants.

Lastly, the discrimination towards the slaves and the harsh

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