Final answer:
African labor was pivotal to European colonial economies in the Americas, producing crucial cash crops and extracting resources under harsh conditions, which ultimately supported the global trade network and European expansion.
Step-by-step explanation:
African labor significantly aided European colonial powers by serving as the backbone of their economic strategies in the Americas. Enslaved Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic Ocean in a brutal journey known as the Middle Passage, to work primarily on plantations where they produced cash crops such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton. These products were then shipped to Europe, forming an integral part of the global trade network that fueled European capitalist expansion.
Slave labor was not only used for agriculture; Africans were also exploited in regions such as the Congo Free State to extract natural resources like ivory and rubber amidst inhumane conditions. Despite the unbearable hardship, enslaved Africans persistently resisted their captivity and were a crucial part of the development and wealth of European colonies.
Through the creation of racial hierarchies and legal distinctions, slavery became deeply ingrained in colonial societies as African ancestry became synonymous with forced labor, paving the way for systemic racism that endured long after slavery was abolished.