The Preservation of Slavery in a Free World How was it possible that the New World, founded by people dedicated to freedom and human dignity, preserved such an inhumane institution as slavery? Some may argue that the founding fathers were simply prejudiced against African people and believed they were an inferior race. But according to Edmund Morgan, there were deeper reasons for maintaining slavery in the colonies that would eventually become the United States. He stated that major figures such as Thomas Jefferson, who believed in human equality, saw that slavery was necessary to maintain social and economic order in the young world. Morgan also stated that slavery compensated for the rebellion of other white workers and at the same time brought a sense of unity to the white inhabitants of the Southern colonies. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Early in the year, Virginia experienced very high mortality rates, in 1625 the population was 1300 or 1400; in 1640 there were around 8000. In those fifteen years between those dates at least 15,000 people must have arrived in the colony. If this were the case, 15,000 immigrants would have increased the population by 7,000. As this disease that had killed so many people died out, the population skyrocketed. The growing economy could not support all the immigrants who were entering the country. This employment shortage caused many of these white newcomers to be pushed into poverty. As poverty grew in Virginia, rioting became imminent. Around 1680, the rebellion took over Virginia. To combat this rebellion, Virginia legislators began to draft harsh laws that stripped the English of their rights. Needless to say, these laws increased the discontent of the inhabitants and other problems arose. What was the solution to these growing problems? Free slave labor. But the settlement put an end to the process of turning Africans into Englishmen. The rights of the English were preserved by destroying the rights of the Africans. The slave trade quickly broke out bringing shiploads of Africans who would provide free labor, greatly reducing the number of indentured servants arriving. This system of slave labor was easily controlled because legislators enforced different laws for blacks than for whites. They saw Africans as a brutal people in large numbers who needed to be controlled. As history shows, they were heavily controlled, they had been raised in pagan societies where they lost their freedom; their children would be raised in a Christian society and would never know freedom. These arriving slaves had also brought a sense of peace and nationalism among the whites inhabiting the colonies. Thomas Jefferson, the spokesman for slaveholder freedom, was a man who championed equality, but yet he had owned slaves for much of his life and believed that slavery was necessary. How was this justified? The freedom Jefferson refers to is that achieved by the individual, not that which is granted to oneself. The freedom Jefferson spoke of was not a gift to be bestowed by governments, which he distrusted at best. It was a freedom that arose from the independence of the individual. Jefferson believed that if a man had to rely on another man to survive, that man could never be truly free. A man needed to own land to provide for himself, and if the slaves were freed it would be almost impossible for the.