For this first discussion, read this excerpt from historians John Hope Franklin and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham's book From Slavery to Freedom. According to Franklin and Higginbotham, "Throughout much of the sixteenth century and into the eighteenth, North American slavery evolved unevenly--by time, by region, and by European colonizer." For this forum, discuss why this is so by looking at the following colonial regions as divided up in the passage of Franklin and Higginbotham linked above: New England (Massachusetts Bay Colony, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire) The Mid-Atlantic colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware) The Chesapeake Bay colonies (Maryland and Virginia) The South (Carolina [later North and South Carolina] and Georgia) For your first post, choose two of these regions and compare and contrast them. As you review chapters three and four, look especially at the following factors: Who settled the colonies in question, and why? What major crops were grown in that region? How was slavery introduced, and when?  What was the legal status of slavery and how did it change over time? What work was reserved for slaves? What were conditions like? What other forms of unfree labor competed with slavery? Which was most efficient? What other cultural factors, like religion, were at play? For instance, how did Puritanism in New England, Quakerism in Pennsylvania, or Catholicism in Spanish Florida effect slavery? How much contact did the colonies in question have with other European colonial regions like New France, Louisiana, Florida, or the Caribbean? How much contact did slaves have with their masters?  With these factors in mind, respond to the following reflection questions: In the two regions you've selected, how did the institution of slavery develop and what factors changed its legal status? In the two regions you've selected, what kind of distinctive slave culture developed and what factors shaped its distinctive characteristics? What most surprised you about this topic of study, and why? For your first post, respond with thorough, detailed reflections.