Was Slavery the basis of freedom in colonial America?

This what I hvae written I feel like its to much and would like to shorten it and make it sound more college level plz help.

In colonial America slavery was the basis of freedom. In areas such as Europe and foreign countries there was a want for tropical and subtropical products. Many colonists were seeking economic profit which led to large plantations being built so vast production of products could be done. There was vast amount of work needing to be done and many colonists didn’t want to do the work so slavery was brought in to get the work done. Slavery was the basis of freedom in colonial America because many colonists were able to sit back and have the work done for them.

1 answer

I think you missed the mark. Great minds have pondered the thinking of locke, Jefferson, and Hamilion on this issue. While racism was a predominant thought (freedom did not apply to dark skinned), economic prjudice (debt, landless city folk) was a factor also in the lack of freedom to "workers".
See this great essay on the paradox of slavery and freedom:
http://www.humanities.uci.edu/history/ucihp/tah/UnderstandingAmericanCitizenship/American%20Paradox.pdf