Final answer:
The Massachusetts economy was dependent on the plantation economy of the Southern colonies due to trade links established for essential supplies and the reliance on Southern raw materials, such as cotton, for Northern manufacturing, particularly in the textile industry.
Step-by-step explanation:
The economy of Massachusetts in colonial times was intricately linked to the plantations of the Southern colonies. Due to the specialization of sugarcane plantations in regions such as Barbados and the overwhelming focus on cotton production in the Southern states, these colonies often depended on trade with neighbors for essential supplies. For example, Massachusetts was particularly adept at maritime trade and supplied foodstuffs and manufactured goods to these plantation economies. Additionally, the market revolution, although propagating Southern economic strength, also increased the South's reliance on Northern manufacturing and financial institutions.
When conflict with England threatened the economy of the young Massachusetts Bay Colony, it found a lifeline in trading with the Caribbean sugar islands. New England merchants, including members of the influential Winthrop family, capitalized on this opportunity for economic growth. Furthermore, the cotton economy, while benefiting the South with great wealth, depended on the slave labor to harvest cotton, and in turn, Massachusetts' textile mills and economy heavily relied on the raw cotton supplied by the Southern plantations. Hence, Massachusetts depended on the plantation economy of the South to provide the raw materials needed for its emerging industrial enterprises.