Slavery in the Eighteenth-Century

When taught about slavery for the first time, I was not fully informed with all the facts and details of the matter until recently. There were many things that I was not aware of when retaught about slavery in the eighteenth century. There were European indentured slaves at first then came the Africans for the use of labor. I was not informed of the details of slavery such as that they first arrived in Virgina in British America in 1619 and that the Africans were endentured slaves, meaning that they would only serve a seven to eight year term of labor, then become a free African. Around the year 1672 there became Black Codes, or slave laws which made the idea of African slaves more recognizable to the people and enabled the slave's masters to have complete control over every aspect of their being. Not only was the finding out that African slaves had at one time been endentured servants and would become free being very informative information, but also that African slaves had only made up four percent of the total slave population in British America, where as Brazil made up of thirty-eight percent and forty-two percent in the West Indies. All of this was very mind boggling when it was first taught to me and I enjoyed learning about the little details in my nation's history. I feel it is very important to have complete knowledge of one's history in order to relieve from ignorance.

The Protestant Refomation

The Protestant Reformation all began in 1533, when King Henry VIII had decided he was to get a divorce from his current wife because she could not bear him a male child. Although, the Catholic Church would simply not allow it as for it is against the Roman Catholic religion's beliefs. Henry VIII then decided to leave the Catholic Church and start his own religion which he named, The Church of England. Later when Elizabeth I was in power, the English Church’s beliefs had been influenced by the teachings of John Calvin and Martin Luther. They believed that the Catholic Church was corrupt and strongly dissaproved of a formal hierarchy when practicing one’s faith in God. Instead of a pope or priest, Calvin and Luther believed that all persons should interpret the Bible themselves. They also stated that one had to be a strong believer and have complete faith in God in order to reach salvation.

For more information on John Calvin, Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation visit, www.historyguide.org/earlymod/lecture3c.html