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	Slave Labor in the Virginia Colony Printer friendly format. In 1771, the slave ship Othello, traveled up the Rappahannock River and docked in Fredericksburg to sell slaves. The Othello may have docked at the wharf which was once located on Wolfe Street. Many slaves were sold from the local slave block located on the corners of William and Charles Streets. Growing and selling tobacco made many Virginia farmers wealthy. A successful tobacco planter needed a lot of land to grow tobacco. Because most farms and plantations were isolated and had to be self-sufficient, almost everything the planter needed was grown or made on the plantation. Taking care of the plantation required lots of hard work and additional help. During the eighteenth century, many slaves were purchased to work on farms and plantations in Fredericksburg, Stafford, Spotsylvania, and King George. Slaves were needed to perform many necessary jobs on the plantation, in order to maintain it. Slaves performed all of the hard work required for growing, packing, and shipping of tobacco back to England for sale. Slaves were not only used for growing tobacco, but worked in the fields, cooked the meals, washed clothes and were babysitters for their plantation owners. Slaves even built the slave quarters and other buildings on the plantation. Answer the following questions: 1. Why would people in the 1700s purchase slaves? 2. Using Ads from the Virginia Gazette, list three jobs performed by slaves. A. ___________________ B. ___________________ C.____________________ 3. Use the list of slaves belonging to the Estate of Fielding Lewis to list three different jobs performed by slaves. A. ___________________ B. ___________________ C. __________________ 4. Why were slaves important to colonial life in the eighteenth century? 5. What influence did slavery have on the Virginia economy? Sources: Fitzgerald, Ruth Coder. (1979). A Different Story. United States: Unicorn. Minchinton, Walter (1984). Virginia Slave-Trade Statistics 1698-1775. Richmond: Virginia State Library History in Your Own Backyard Lesson Plan: Economic Influences on the Virginia Colony Passages: Tobacco and Slavery in the Virginia Colony Activity: Tobacco and the Virginia Colony Activity: Colonial Virginia Economic System Vocabulary Terms Notes & Primary Source Material: Colonial Virginia Economics Activity: Colonial Virginia Economic Questions Review Activity: Tobacco in Colonial Virginia - Cause & Effect Activity: Colonial Virginia Economic Vocabulary Review Activity: Valuable Tobacco/Valuable Tobacco Questions Activity: Tobacco and Slavery Activity: Slave Labor in the Virginia Colony Activity: The Many Jobs of A Slave Activity: A Fredericksburg Plantation Activity: Plantation Vs. Small Town Primary Source Material: Invoice from Crosbies & Trafford Primary Source Material: Slaves Belonging to the Estate of Fielding Lewis Activity: The Main Idea (Microsoft Word Document) Primary Source Material: Ads from the Virginia Gazette Sources Return to History in Your Own Backyard Index | Primers to the Past
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