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(100 words) Why was the enslavement of Africans in the American colonies “gradual”? What labor system existed in the colonies prior to black enslavement?

User Vassilis
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In the beginning in V1rginia and Maryland, colonists usually had white indentured servants for the labor needs until the supply had fallen sharply in the mid-1660s. Many servants were seeking labor elsewhere because of the higher demand and better pay, but the people of Chesapeake still needed a labor force, so they turned more towards enslaving black people; the colonists picked up slaves from Africa, the Carribeans, Barbados, and even New Netherlands (renamed New York). Looking at demographics, in 1680, roughly 7% of the population in V1rginia and Maryland at the time were slaves, but by the 1700s, it was around 22%.
User Ken Colton
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