Dbq Slavery

Words: 585
Pages: 3

Between the years of 1607 and 1775, slavery was crucial for the development of the southern colonies. Slaves were the main source of labor for the southern colonies because they believed in hard work and cheap labor. The growth of slavery of was encouraged through geographic, economic, and social factors. These factors include mercantilism, climate change, cash crops, the shift of indentured servitude to slavery, and dehumanization. Economically, slaves were the main source of labor. Around this time, English used mercantilism where John Rolfe made a discovery on tobacco to plant in large plantations that made it easier for trade to their mother country. They used indentured servants at the time, which were immigrants who signed contracts …show more content…
“Planters filled the law books with measures enhancing the master’s power over his human property and restricting blacks access to freedom” (Foner 139). This basically emphasized the fact that slaves had no rights. The slave codes and laws that were made kept the slaves under control and remained working on the crops. The southerners thought they were too good to work so when the Navigation Act was passed, they used the slaves as a source of work to make their profits. Anyone outside of white color was seen as black slaves and socially inferior to the whites. They felt the blacks had no chance at all and had no intellect. It was obvious the whites are superior to the blacks and had no social status at this period in time. Slavery was definitely an important factor of the southern colonies in all ways economically, geographically, and socially. Through the use of the slave trade and triangular trade, slaves were delivered coast to coast enabling these colonies to put farms to use and put these slaves to work. The southerners main goal was to make a profit and they did through the use of slaves. This allowed the economy to prosper and slavery really did play a vital role in the southern