Africans in America/Part 1/Betty Wood on why the English did not use Native Americans for their work force

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Betty Wood on why the English did not use Native Americans for their work force Resource Bank Contents

Q: Why didn't the English in the 1620s turn to Native Americans for the work force they needed?

A: I think the main reason for that had to do with what the English regarded as the deficiencies of the Native Americans as potential workers. Native Americans could easily abscond, return to their own peoples. And fairly early on, the English ruled out the possibility of Native Americans as a work force in their tobacco fields.

Betty Wood
Professor of History
Oxford University

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Q: Why didn't the English in the 1620s turn to Native Americans for the work force they needed?
	A: I think the main reason for that had to do with what the English regarded as the deficiencies of the Native Americans as potential workers. Native Americans could easily abscond, return to their own peoples. And fairly early on, the English ruled out the possibility of Native Americans as a work force in their tobacco fields.
Betty Wood Professor of History Oxford University
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