To pay off their debt, the indentured servants would work for them. When the contracts for the indentured servants started to expire, the colonists looked for other people to work on their plantations" (When Did Slavery Begin in North America?"). "The plantation owners began to purchase africans to use as slaves. Around 400,000 african slaves were sold to North America" ("Slavery in the Colonies"). "Africans had already populated the islands of the Caribbean and lived there for their whole lives. Europeans, like the French in the 1780s, came to the islands and set up plantations. In 1797, the British took control of the islands. At the time of their conquest, there were close to 10,000 african slaves. Five years later, that increased to 20,000" ("African Slavery"). "The Atlantic …show more content…
"By 1678, 80% of the population was African. The plantations feared that the slaves would revolt, so they were extremely harsh to the slaves in hopes of controlling them. The working conditions were brutal; it was excruciatingly hot, and the machines were unsafe. The slaves worked long hours with poor to no nourishment, resulting in death" ("Slavery in the Caribbean"). "When the tobacco demand increased, the amount of work did as well. The plantation owners from the colonies learned from the mistakes of the cruel caribbean plantation owners who worked their slaves to death. They realized that the slaves were an important part of the tobacco manufacturing process, so they began to treat them better. The owners made sure that they had food, clothes, and that they were healthy" ("Slavery in the