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In his book, American Slavery American Freedom Edmund S. Morgan argued that slavery was based on economics and that racism stemmed from that. His idea was that economics was the driving force in racism supporting slavery. Racism can also be seen as the reason for slavery if seen from the viewpoint of how both indentured servants and African slaves were treated and their ownership justified. The English settlers in this time had a very capitalist mindset. The landowners were part of the Tidewater Elite and justified having indentured servants and slaves because they were of a lower social class and culture. Morgan’s point of economics creating slavery is a very adequate one. The plantation owners of Virginia had very large estates that required many workers to produce a decent crop. This led to the use of indentured servants from England, which was not based on rac