Being able to understand that there’s a difference between “slaves” and “servants” in the passage is key to answering to this question, but I totally glossed over the passage (line 1-14) that mentioned the difference:
The first mention of slavery in the statutes of the English colonies of North America does not occur until after 1660-some forty years after the importation of the first Black people. Lest we think that slavery existed in fact before it did in law, Oscar and Mary Handlin assure us that the status of Black people down to the 1660’s was that of servants. A critique of the Handlins’ interpretation of why legal slavery did not appear until the 1660’s suggests that assumptions about the relation between slavery and racial prejudice should be reexamined and that explanations for the different treatment of Black slaves in North and South America should be expanded.
When I first simplified the second sentence above, I interpreted it as “if you think slavery did not exist before the law was enacted, you’re wrong – the Handlins would argue that Black folks were still considered slaves despite the lack of regulation.” To me, I thought the author was just using a synonym for slaves as an aesthetic choice.
But the correct interpretation is something like, “if you think slavery did not exist before the law was enacted, you’re right – the Handlins would argue that Black folks were actually considered servants, not slaves.” On hindsight, it made sense why the last sentence is a critiquing the Handlins.
I think made similar mistakes before where I glossed over an important word or misunderstood a passage. Are there good ways to prevent this?
I was thinking reading out loud might help, but I wonder if there are better ideas. One where there’s a good balance of speed and comprehension.