Which of the following best describes the system of slavery in the first few decades of the american colonies?

indentured servants became enslaved after four to seven years.
africans could not work as indentured servants; they were only enslaved.
enslaved people were enslaved for life, but their children were born free.
both africans and whites worked as indentured servants, not as slaves.

Both Africans and whites worked as indentured servants, not as slaves.

Indentured servitude refers to a system of labour in which servants worked between four and seven years in exchange for passage, room and lodging. Poor Europeans entered into these contracts hoping to find a better life in the Americas. Although indentured servitude was similar to slavery, it was a lot less restrictive. When servants were released, they were often granted land, crops and cattle.

This system began in the decade following the establishment of Jamestown, and it remained a significant part of the colonies for the first few decades of their existence. Initially, Black Africans were treated as indentured servants as well. However, as their numbers started to grow, slave laws were passed, and Black people lost their freedom completely. This was a much more profitable way of acquiring cheap labour, which meant that indentured servitude declined and slave labour increased.

as university of miami psychologists debra lieberman and adam smith pointed out in a recent article in the journal current directions in psychological science, humans have social and psychological mechanisms to deter incest. with very few exceptions, marriages between brothers and sisters and between parents and their children are verboten in every human culture. the primary psychological anti-incest mechanism is the yuck response. even the idea of sex with their mom or dad, bro or sis is upsetting to most people. the psychologist jonathan haidt has found that nearly everyone is repelled by the prospect of brother-sister sex, even in hypothetical situations in which there is no chance of pregnancy).

the biological cost of incest

this raises an interesting question: just what’s so bad about incest? sure, having sex with your dad or your sister seems gross — but why? some anthropologists have argued that incest taboos are learned social conventions. this explanation, however, doesn’t make sense to me as it does not explain the widespread existence of anti-incest mechanisms in creatures ranging from cockroaches to chimpanzees. second, the incest taboo is about as close to a universal law as human moral rules get.

why should mechanisms to avoid incest be so widespread both in nature and across human societies? the answer is simple. the problem with having sex close with relatives is that there is an astonishingly high chance that your offspring will be born with a serious birth defect.