Slavery During The Columbian Exchange

1. African slave labor was widely used in the Americas because even though they were expensive, they were better investments for plantation owners than Amerindians or indentured servants, the two other labor systems at this time. African slaves were immune to more diseases than the Amerindians, therefore they lived longer, which was a good investment. The English, French, and Dutch colonies in the Caribbean profited when they switched their laborers from indentured servants to African slaves. The rapid expansion of plantations in the West Indies required many more African slaves to work them. The amount of slaves traded from Africa doubled from the beginning of the seventeenth century to the end and tripled in the next century. Rising sugar
Because many slaves died from diseases or poor nutrition early in their lives, more and more slaves were imported into the Americas, increasing the magnitude of the slave trade.

2. One piece of the Atlantic economy were the plantations in the West Indies. Sugarcane and tobacco were grown on these plantations. By 1614, seven thousand shops in and around London sold tobacco. The West Indies, especially Saint Domingue, became the Atlantic’s largest sugar producer.

3. Slaves typically lived for about 7 years on the plantations. On most islands, 90 percent of the population were slaves, and a plantocracy, a small number of very rich men who owned most of the slaves and most of the land, controlled them. . Every slave worked, regardless of their gender or strength. Three percent of the slaves were house servants. Seventy percent of able-bodied slaves worked in the fields, generally in 1 of 3 labor groups. A “great gang” made up of the strongest slaves in their prime of life did the heaviest work. A second group of youths, elders, and less fit slaves did lighter work. A “grass gang” was children supervised by elderly doing simple work. Nursing mothers took their
In both mercantilism and capitalism systems, the government gives protection to investors and merchants in order to reduce the possibility of loses. Capitalism was the economic system which had an expansion of credit and large financial institutions, such as banks, stock exchanges, and chartered trading companies. These institutions allowed merchants and investors to conduct business far away from their homes, increase profits, and reduce losses. Banks and joint-stock companies were crucial to the capitalist system. Mercantilism was the economic system in which the European states discouraged merchants from trading with foreign merchants and even used armed forces to enforce this. European states did this to monopolize the profits from their colonial empires and receive gold and silver. Chartered companies, such as the Dutch East India Company, the Dutch West India Company, the French East India Company, the French West India Company, and the Royal African Company were crucial to this system and produced large profits. The Royal African Company controlled English merchants’ trade on the Atlantic coast of Africa. Capitalism also used chartered trading companies. French and English governments used military force to gain advantages in the Americas. In mercantilism, high tariffs and restrictions were enforced to exclude foreigners. Other mercantilist laws imposed high taxes on manufactured goods and products such as refined sugar in order to protect national manufacturing