Africans

• First Africans that came to America were in chains

• Europeans brought 10-11 million slaves to the new world.

Why were slaves needed?

• Cash crops (tobacco) were grown in the southern colonies

• The greater the harvest = more money• Northerners used slaves for servants in upper

class homes

Slave Trade

• Some were taken in raids• Some were prisoners of war• Middle Passage – the middle part of the trade

ship’s route around the Atlantic• Open book to page 37

Colonial Economy

• As life became more stable, colonists were able to focus on producing not only food but also extra goods that could be sold within the colonies or Europe

Triangular Trade

• A trade network between the Americas and Europe developed

North America to England

• Whale oil• Rum• Lumber• Furs• Rice • Indigo • Tobacco• Fish

England to North America

• Manufactured goods– Tools– Clothing

America to Africa

• Iron• Textiles• rum

Africa to America

• slaves

England to Africa

• Manufactured goods

Africa to England

• Gold• Ivory• spices

• Colonists had to depend on what would grow on their own land or somewhere nearby.

New England Colonies

• Thin rocky cover of soil made farming difficult• They grew only enough to get by• Used fishing and whaling for profit• This led to American shipbuilding business

Middle Colonies

• Farming was main activity• Known as the bread colonies because they

grow so much grain• Exported livestock• Had many rivers that served as water

highways to inland America which helped with the fur trade

Southern Colonies

• Grew tobacco, rice and indigo (cash crops)• Few other industries grew because they

invested in their land and slaves

Money crops

• Tobacco – in demand in Europe• Rice – could control the tide water levels• Indigo – grew in the off season of rice and

tobacco

• Slaves had skills from Africa on how to grow cash crops

• Planters may not have succeeded with out their knowledge

Corn

• The largest food crop in all the colonies