Slavery in America in the late 17th century, was the direct
result of a labor shortage in the English colonies.
Colonists continually tried to allure laborers to the
colony and chiefly relied on Indentured Servitude. The
headright system was a method of getting cheap laborers as
well as increasing the population of the colony by giving
the indentured servant independence after a certain number
of years of service. When this method did not suffice and
laborers were still scarce, the colonists turned to a
different labor force, African slaves. The decreasing
population combined with a need for a labor force, led
colonists to believe that buying African slaves was the
most efficient way to acquire a labor force.
 
Before the 1680's, Indentured Servitude was the primary
source of labor in the newly developed colonies. After the
1680's, the population of Indentured Servants decreased
because they were either running away from their temporary
masters to find a job and gain their independence or they
where unable to survive the harsh living conditions and
died. This created a serious void in the labor market for
the colonists.
 
In the 1600's, when tobacco was introduced by John Rolfe,
many colonists began to grow it. The soil was perfect for
this crop and tobacco became the main source of income for
most of the colonists. The economic prosperity of the
colonies was primarily dependent on the amount of tobacco
produced. The growing of tobacco, needed a large amount of
land, with a large stable work force. The increased demand
for a large, stable work force combined with the
availability of African slaves, led to the use of slavery
in the colonies. To the planter, slavery was the ideal
form of labor. 
 
Tobacco was the major crop of the 17th century in the
English colonies. Tobacco is a plant that exhausts
nutrients from the soil and requires the rotation of crops,
in order to replenish the soil. The planter needed to
educate his workers on certain agricultural techniques and
a permanent work force, such as slaves, would only require
to be educated once. This would be more expedient and cost
effective for the planter. The African slaves also had
other characteristics that enticed colonists to use them as
a labor force. The African slaves were immune to malaria, a
disease which was quite prevalent. The slaves also had
essential agricultural skills as many had been subsistence
farmers in Africa.
 
Slavery was an opportune labor force. The decline in
population of indentured servants exacerbated the
situation, and as time progressed, slavery became more and
more imminent. Morality among this work force was not taken
into consideration, because settlers were only viewing
slavery from an economic view, rather than a humanitarian
point of view.