Indentured Servitude and Slavery in Colonial America Essay Example

tobacco fields in the south; they helped to make tobacco a major cash crop in the south which was good for both the Colonies and Britain. The system also allowed for many to become individually rich, middlemen or agents would buy and sign a large group of indenture contracts and then sell the servants in the colonies for a profit.Some colonists bought the whole group that an agent brought over and would go door to door selling them. The indentured servants were a great aid to the colonial economy in that they provided much of the labor that was needed to produce more goods that could be exported. The slavery system in the colonies was also a great help for the economy.

Slaves did most of the same work as the indentured servants however slaves were not set free and were usually given less respect since they were not white or European.Slavery became increasingly popular during the late seventeenth century, the triangle trade allowed for slaves to be bought more easily and for fairly cheap prices. Slaves were also common because they could be forced to work by more violent means; in 1669, Virginia passed a new law that death of a slave during punishment was not to be considered a felony. By 1714, 95% of American exports to Britain came from the slave colonies, causing most to say that the African slave labor was what really made the British empire a success.Like the indentured servants, slaves greatly helped the tobacco industry which allowed plantations to spread across the colonies. Slave trade within the colonies also became a major industry, particularly in South Carolina where

the slave trade was the most profitable part of the economy.

The labor slaves performed and the industry of slave trade both greatly contributed to bettering the American economy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Indentured servitude and slavery were both very common within the colonies.Despite the differences between the two systems (one group was freed after finishing a short term of servitude while another was considered personal property for life) both provided labor that was desperately needed by the colonists in order to improve society. Their labor also helped to better the American economy by putting more effort into the crop industry and producing more to export. Both types of workers essentially created the American economy and helped the colonies to become stronger and more independent on the eve of the American revolution.