Geographic Factors Responsible For The Growth Of Slavery Essay

From 1619, as the Dutch ship the ‘White Lion’ captured 20 enslaved Africans and brought them to Jamestown, to 1640, the Virginia courts ratified the first black slave John Casor as a legal indentured servant in America, slavery turns to be a more and more important factor in the American History. There were certain conditions accelerated the development of slavery between 1607-1775, including the shortage of labor, the cheap price of slaves, and the radical discrimination. Those factors significantly changed African people’s social status historically. The geographic factors were quite responsible for the growth of slavery in Southern colonies. Plenty of sunshine and rainfall, the warm temperature and the rich soil contributed to the plantation of cash crops such as rice, sugar and indigo in North Carolina and South Carolina, and Tobacco in Maryland and Virginia. The broad land and plantation enlarged the needs of human labor. As African slaves entered the southern American, land owners soon found them to be the fittest laborer to do the hard job in large farm land. They could stand the humid weather, obey the orders the landlords gave to them and they also had strong ability to do the hard tasks in farms. Also, the

The Head-right system issued by the Virginia Company enabled the indentured servants to acquire 50 acres of land when serving time expired. This system not only benefited the indentured servants but also benefited the landlords who paid for huge farms of the crops like tobacco and wanted laborers to help them make profits. However, as indentured servants became more and more expensive, the land owners became more afraid of the high-rice servants to escape or die of diseases. Slaves turned to be a relatively cheap labor for the landlords who wanted to save money. For this reason, slavery became more and more popular and eventually took the place of the indentured