In a time of severe labor shortage, it became convenient to declare the black arrivals slaves, not indentured servants as the first had been. After the American Revolution, the legal position of slaves was not debated. Generations of whites had lived in virtual slavery in Europe under the feudal system. Human bondage in many forms had been common up until then, and was generally accepted. When the U.S. Constitution was written, the phrase "all men" did not apply to slaves.While slavery might have seemed like a natural means to obtain labor when the United States were founded, it turned out to be a curse. It legally relegated an entire segment of the population to being without any rights. Laws were changed as people understood what slavery was all about.. HOPE THIS HELPS!!