American Slavery, American Freedom. Edmund Morgan. 1975.

One of the most important books on American colonial history and the origins of slavery in America, this book is a key to understanding both colonial Virginia and the American Revolution. Morgan's contention is that 'to a large degree it may be said that Americans bought their independence with slave labor.' What he means by this is that slavery and freedom became mutually reinforcing concepts. Southerners lived in a society where the fate of the enslaved was to be found around them every day. Slave owners were smart enough to recognize the need for white solidarity and thus convinced yeoman that Parliament could enslave them as well. This ideological agenda became the catalyst in bringing these two groups in Virginia society together and slavery only reinforced this ideological unity. Freedom was a concept that was transformed into freedom from English rule. Also, English society with its hierarchy served as a further basis for racist ideology. In Morgan's estimation, racism preceded slavery and developed primarily in the ongoing conflict with Indians. Africans became preferential for labor because of their resistance to disease, inability to runaway (as compared to Indians), and their inability to pass themselves off as a member of white society in the way that indentured servants could.