Migrants, Servants and Slaves ― Unfree Labor in Colonial British America

Collected articles by Menard (U. of Minnesota) trace the transition from a colonial American work force dominated by English indentured servants to one dominated by African slaves. His central argument is that the transition was an economic process, driven by changes in the supply of labor, rather than (as others assert) a cultural process driven by changes in demand. The articles focus primarily on the Chesapeake colonies and the Carolina low country of the 17th century. They were written and originally published between the 1970s and the 1990s. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)