How Did The American Colonies Develop Throughout The 1600's And 1600s

Throughout the 1600’s and 1700’s, the American colonies grew larger and larger, becoming more than just small settlements, into large self sufficient territories. Originally the colonies were supposed to be settlements to find gold and raw materials, but they eventually became the beginnings of the colonies that would start the United States. As they developed most colonies relied on agriculture and certain crops and trading to have an economical balance. For example, colonies like Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina relied heavily on the production of tobacco and rice to trade and sell with England for an income. With tobacco becoming a staple in europe and being highly desired, the need for more crops grew. To
However, around 1619, african slaves were beginning to be sold in the colonies. These African slaves were put to work in the southern plantations with different jobs. Many would work in the field, planting and harvesting the crops. When these African slaves started to be taken to the British colonies, many colonists couldn't afford them, but in the later years most colonist owned many slaves, sometimes over 200 for one plantation. The slaves trade became part of the english triangle trade. This system worked through three different components from England, Africa, and the colonies. England would provide finished goods to trade in Africa for slaves. Then, Africa would trade the slaves, and these slaves would be taken across the Atlantic, in what was known as the middle passage, to the colonies. Then from the slave’s labour and its products, the colonies would provide raw materials to England. This system grew and the African population grew in the new world, as many were being used to help run the southern plantations. Near the end of the 1600’s, Virginia’s population was made up of 14% African slaves. The Slave trade was a very big part of how the slaves became such a large role in the southern
Writer Oscar Wilde once said, “The fact is, that civilisation requires slaves. The Greeks were quite right there. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible. Human slavery is wrong, insecure, and demoralizing. On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the future of the world depends.” He was very true in his statement, the colonists would force these slaves into hard and demanding labour, that none of the colonists could ever do. The African slave’s work in the different plantations and fields of the south allowed the tobacco, rice, and other crops to be grown to keep up with the demand. Due to the fact that the southern colonies relied mainly on agriculture to have a steady economy, without the use of slaves the south wouldn’t have been able to have such a strong and steady