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Difficulty: EasyChesapeake and Southern Colonies

"The three main commodities this country [Maryland] affords, is clover, herbage, and tobacco, which last is the general business of the province... The servants of this province, which are for the most part of the English nation, have their work prescribed them... and when their time of servitude is expired, they are free to plant for themselves."
— George Alsop, *A Character of the Province of Maryland*, 1666

The labor system described in the excerpt was primarily established to meet the demands of which economic activity in the Chesapeake region?

  1. The cultivation of labor-intensive cash crops like tobacco for exportAnswer
  2. B
    The establishment of small-scale family subsistence farms focused on food production
  3. C
    The immediate implementation of a permanent, hereditary chattel slavery system for all field workers
  4. D
    The crown's efforts to encourage industrial manufacturing and free trade in the colonies

Answer

The cultivation of labor-intensive cash crops like tobacco for export
The economic model of the Chesapeake colonies (Virginia and Maryland) relied heavily on the production of tobacco as a cash crop for export. Because tobacco cultivation required intensive physical labor, planters turned to indentured servants from England to fulfill their labor needs during the early and mid-seventeenth century, as described in the excerpt.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus to identify the region and the labor system mentioned.
The stimulus describes Maryland (part of the Chesapeake region) and references a system of temporary 'servants' who plant tobacco and eventually gain their freedom.
Identifying the setting and the system of indentured servitude helps narrow down the economic motivations of the region.
2
Evaluate the primary crop and economic driver described in the text.
The text explicitly states that tobacco is 'the general business of the province.'
Understanding that tobacco was the primary commodity explains why a large labor force of indentured servants was recruited.
3
Select the option that matches the labor demand driven by tobacco plantation agriculture.
The option referring to the cultivation of labor-intensive cash crops like tobacco for export is the correct choice.
It directly links the labor system of indentured servitude to the economic necessity of cultivating tobacco in the Chesapeake.

Key Concept

Chesapeake and Southern Colonies economy and labor systems
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Chesapeake and Southern Colonies

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