Pre-1660 how were African Americans treated in Virginia, were they viewed exclusively as servants? And,did British Law regarding slavery effect or change the debate at all regarding their position to eventually legalize slavery?

by 4waystreet

Also, were one religion more prone to except slavery? Were the Southern Colonies much different compared to Northern, specifically the Quakers who seemed much more abhorant to the idea of enslavement

Anoraklibrarian

As far as Virginia goes Africans tended to be seen as indentured servants who you could work harder and could give longer terms of indenture, trending towards the indefinite like slavery. As for quakers and slavery this wasn't really an issue until the end of the 18th century, and it appears that slavery was not regulated by religious bounds, with protestant, catholic, jewish, and puritan slaveholders abounding. And while slavery was more prevalent in the south due to the profitability of cash crops like indigo and tobacco in early America, no colony was free of slavery at this time in American history and wouldn't be until the 1790s

Source: Kathleen Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs