
Compare the economies of the various colonies, and
analyze the development and impact of indentured
servitude and African slavery in North America
(e.g., social, political, and economic)
Importance of Mercantilism
Mercantilism = A nations power and prestige in
Europe was tied directly to it’s wealth
 Which in turn encouraged imperialism
Creating colonies = Imperialism = Empire
 Colonies become necessary for economic growth
Provided cheap labor & resources and bought
goods from Europe (mercantilism)
 Brought wealth to colonies but also generated
opposition because of restricted freedoms

Creating the American Dream

Early colonists hoped for gold, but farming and trade
quickly became the backbone of colonial economies
 Tobacco,
Rice, Sugarcane in the Southern colonies
 Ship building, fishing, and fur trading become important in
New England
Trade with Europe led to 1st large cities: Boston,
Baltimore, NYC
 Headright System – 50-100 acres of land for
immigrants

Issue of Slavery
Natives taken as slaves, but died from European
diseases quickly, and / or ran away
 Indentured Servants were poor Europeans brought to
the “US” who signed a contract to be a slave for 5-7
years
 Served as an Apprenticeship with dream of owning
own land through Headright System
Most died of disease, starvation, or overwork

By 1700 90% of 100,000 colonists in the
Chesapeake were indentured servants
 55% of adult males could vote, higher than Europe

Labor Shortages
Indentured Servants problematic since they weren’t
permanent
 Africans - More resilient to European disease, and
less likely to run away
 1st African slaves in VA 1619 as Indentured
Servants
Dutch
 Slaves majority on sugar plantations in the
Caribbean by the 1650s
Outnumbered whites 4 to 1 by1713

Carolina



As the Caribbean population swelled and land dwindled
many Europeans moved North with their slaves
Georgia and South Carolina economies focused on rice
 Cash Crop
 Rice harvesting required slave labor to be profitable
Slave majority by 1710
 Carolina eventually divides over slavery
Triangular Trade
Colonial products sold in Europe
 Money from Europe used to buy slaves in Africa
 Slaves were traded for products in colonies
 Middle Passage – Horrendous trip across the
Atlantic for slaves. “Amistad”
 African slave trade reached its peak between
1730 and 1775

Life as a Slave
 Task
system – allowed to work for themselves after
finishing their tasks, extra money
 Gang system – worked until told otherwise, rule by
fear, less freedom
Gang system became norm as workers produced
more
Task system and increased freedom used to bribe
slaves into supervisor positions
Stono Rebellion 9-9-1739
Was a Slave rebellion in South Carolina
 Cato's Conspiracy or Cato's Rebellion
 80 slaves rebelled and roughly 45 whites and 45
slaves were killed
 In response SC legislature passed

Negro Act of 1740
 Restricted
slave assembly, education and movement.
 Enacted a 10-year moratorium against importing
African slaves
 Many rebel slaves were literate, Catholics from the
Congo
 Established penalties against slaveholders' harsh
treatment of slaves.
 Required legislative approval for manumissions, which
was previously handled by slaveholders
 Setting slaves free