Slavery as an Important Part of Economy in the Colonies

Slavery grew into an important part of the southern colonies’ economy, driven by the near necessity of it geographically, economically and socially. These factors have a cause and effect relationship with slavery, and therefore also on its role in the economy. In the 1600s and 1700s, slavery was everywhere in the southern colonies. It ranged from small farms, which had one or two slaves, to the prosperous plantations with a slave for practically every hundred plants. In a way it showed a settler’s standing, economically and socially.

Moreover, the geography had a literal effect on the importance of slavery in the economy. The climate enormously influenced the purchase of slaves in the south. A settler wouldn’t want to be in the hot sun when they can buy a slave to do it for them. The farm or plantation owner could push the slave to limits they would never go to themselves. The slaves were sometimes pushed to dehydration and death, even though slave owners tried to avoid this because they would become useless. The luxury of settlers not having to work themselves created a very high appeal for slaves, which in affect made the slave market more successful. In addition, the type and amount of land a settler owned influenced what crop was to be grown and how much they could grow. In result, if a large number of the crops were grown then the number of slaves was more immense. This helped the slave trade industry prosper. The interest in this despicable labor also resulted from economic factors.

Furthermore, economic factors also played an important role inn the growth of slavery in the southern colonies. The lack of blue collar labor existed because every man coming to the New World was looking to make their own fortune. Therefore, in the southern colonies, where blue collar labor was necessary for farms, another kind of labor was essential to the success of these colonies. This is presumably one of the reasons slavery appeared in the southern colonies. This