Why did the Southern colonies require slave labor?

Answer 1

Any racism aside, slave labor was, in all honesty, the cheapest labor. Slaves were never paid wages, and they were cheap to obtain. As well, because the slaves worked hard, this helped boost productivity on the plantations.

Answer 2

Slavery was legally recognized in Colonial Massachusetts by 1641 although slavery was not widespread in the Northern colonies and individual slave owners owned very few in number. There are many stories of ministers owning a slave or two as domestic servants and farmworkers. By 1619 the first slaves arrived in the Jamestown Colony and were used on tobacco plantations. Slavery was legally recognized in Virginia by 1639 and was well established by 1660. By 1662 Virginia had passed laws that made all children born of slaves (and their children and so on) condemned to slavery.

Why did the plantation owners turn to slavery. The Colonial South was populated by younger sons who immigrated from England who were disinherited by the ancient custom of primogeniture, inheritance of estates by the eldest son. Those younger sons sought to recreate the aristocratic lifestyle they remembered from home. The only way to do that was to acquire large tracts of land and establish "estates" (i.e., plantations) that could support a life of aristocratic leisure that mirrored aristocratic life at home in England. The trouble was they didn't have the cash to fund their estates and the only option was to establish a system of slave labor.

A study of American Colonial history reveals other interesting facts that further explain that phenomenon, especially the study of Early American law. The English aristocracy that populated the South sought to recreate their life in England and the laws in the Southern Colonies followed English law. Women had more rights in the South than they did in the Northern colonies.

The North was populated by the Puritans who fled England and sought to create their own nation free from English control. They did not bring English law with them and chose instead to ignore huge portions of well established law adopt a more religious based system. Women actually lost rights of inheritance and property they had under English law and Massachusetts and Connecticut were the most restrictive states regarding legal rights for women.

Answer 3

haha im doing the same assignment

because they had farming and they needed people to do the free labor.

Answer 4

The planters wanted cheap labor.

Answer 5

farming