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Colonization Of North America

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Prior to English colonization of North America, slavery in Europe was a common institution that created a social class in the societies of various nations. When the colonization of the New World in North America began, along with English settlers came the institution of slavery. In the dawn of English colonization, the practice of indentured servitude was utilized to provide labor necessary to produce crops in exchange for transportation to the New World, and a opportunity for new beginnings. As trade in the Atlantic World progressed, slavery replaced indentured servitude in order for African Chiefdoms to gain profit, and colonial farmers to gain free labor. As the method for obtaining labor for producing cash crops transitioned from indentured servitude to slavery, specifically African chattel slavery, slavery itself developed into a staple institution for colonial economies, and set-up for tensions between the small but influential population of slaveowners and African slaves that caused slavery to become difficult to overcome in future years.
In the eyes of English political leaders, the colonization of the New World benefited the English economy in ways of taxation, the mercantilism system, and new opportunities for goods to flourish in English markets. The first established English colony of Jamestown displayed the difficulties of colonization in foreign land, but the work of John Rolfe to develop and perfect the farming of tobacco saved the colony. This new

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