SETTLING NORTH AMERICA 1497 1732
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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They could purchase more land if they put more slaves to work.
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There were not enough indentured servants to meet the high demand.
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There had not been a significant slave rebellion in the northern colonies.
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The cost of purchasing slaves had fallen dramatically.
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Detailed explanation-1: -Virginia planters developed the commodity crop of tobacco as their chief export. It was a labor-intensive crop, and demand for it in England and Europe led to an increase in the importation of African slaves in the colony.
Detailed explanation-2: -Labor market dynamics Given the rapid expansion of colonial export industries in the 17th and 18th century, natural population growth and immigration were unable to meet the increasing demand for workers. As a result, the cost of indentured servants rose substantially.
Detailed explanation-3: -Many landowners also felt threatened by newly freed servants demand for land. The colonial elite realized the problems of indentured servitude. Landowners turned to African slaves as a more profitable and ever-renewable source of labor and the shift from indentured servants to racial slavery had begun.
Detailed explanation-4: -A vast abundance of virgin land together with a paucity of settlers defined the problem in all the mainland colonies; everywhere, land was plentiful and labor scarce. To attract laborers, the colonists consequently found it necessary to pay wages that in Europe would have been considered exorbitant.