The origins of slavery can be said to have come from economic need, however according to Winthrop D. Jordan's The White Man's Burden, this only constituted for part of the reason. Slavery began solely as an economic necessity in British America in the 1600 and 1700's. Over time however, the reason for human oppression became hatred toward men of different beliefs, appearance and practices.
             In Jordan's book, he explains European's first encounters with the Africans. They were described at first with words associated with "black." Dirty, soiled, foul and with malignant purposes. The man of Africa was seen as very peculiar to the white man and due to the mindset of the time, they were seen as dark or evil, simply because the color of their skin. At first, the difference was seen as just that, a difference. However, as Jordan explains, this changes over time. As more and more encounters with the Africans occurred, the English began to view the Black men with hatred. Their "apelike" appearance and savage behavior seemed to convince the British that the Africans were more like animals than humans, like animals, some Europeans felt that the Africans should be captured and exploited. The enslavement of the Negroes in the West Indies was the reason slavery was brought into New England.
             The need for slavery in British America was due in part, to economic survival the labor shortage in the colonies, many different people. Because of the economic need for work in British America, many peoples were utilized. The tobacco problem that occurred during the 1600's brought Indians and Whites to be used as servants. "From at least the 1530's the countryside swarmed with vagrants, sturdy beggars, rogues, and vagabonds, with men who could but would not work." (Pg. 30) Many people were readily accessible farm work, however the indentured s
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