Slavery in the New World
Slavery in the New World The beginning of slavery in North America developed in response to the economic demands of means in the New World. The colonies in the New World needed manual laborers to develop the natural resources, and for this reason the use of slaves became an important part of society. European Carolinians depended on African labor even more after turning to rice as their cash crop. In fact, planters began to import slaves in larger numbers partly because of the West African skill in rice cultivation. [1] Indentured servitude and the slavery systems both played a major role in the development of the new world. The American colonies mostly ruled themselves and were in a relatively good economic situation. Despite their successfulness with political issues, the colonists desperately needed help with labor as there was so much work that needed to be done to the land. The need for labor was fulfilled in two ways; indentured servants and African slaves. [2] While the two groups were treated differently and received different levels of respect, both worked the land and ultimately helped the colonist’s economy to boom. The slavery system and indentured servants helped to put the American colonies in a better economic situation in the years leading up to the American Revolution. [3] Indentured servitude started when many Europeans wanted to start a life in the colonies. In many European nations the colonies were heavily advertised and families were encouraged to move to America. Most families could not afford the trip to America, and if they could, most would not have enough money to then purchase land and support their family. Still, many people still wanted to come to America, the solution to the financial problem was indentured servitude. After the people served their term, as an indentured servant they would be given clothes, land, and some money. These servants did much needed work, especially in tobacco fields in the south; they helped to make tobacco