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Difficulty: MediumChesapeake and Southern Colonies

"The Lords Proprietors’ Land-Office is always open to any that have a Mind to purchase Land... Land being sold so cheap, and the Payment so easy... Rice, Pitch, Tar, and Indigo, are the Commodities we chiefly depend upon, and which are exported to Great Britain and her colonies."

— John Lawson, *A New Voyage to Carolina*, 1709

Which of the following was a primary long-term consequence of the economic trends described in the excerpt?

  1. The development of a plantation-based economy increasingly dependent on the labor of enslaved AfricansAnswer
  2. B
    The establishment of close-knit, town-centered communities organized around religious congregations
  3. C
    A labor system dominated by European indentured servants whose status was legally defined as permanent and hereditary
  4. D
    The growth of a free-trade system that allowed colonists to export goods directly to other European empires without imperial restrictions

Answer

The development of a plantation-based economy increasingly dependent on the labor of enslaved Africans
The correct answer is correct because the cultivation of labor-intensive cash crops like rice and indigo, facilitated by cheap and abundant land, created a demand for a large, permanent labor force. This led Southern plantation owners to transition to chattel slavery, making enslaved Africans the primary labor source in the region.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus to identify the region and economic activities described.
The excerpt describes the Carolina colony, where cheap land allows for the production of cash crops like rice, pitch, tar, and indigo for export to Great Britain.
Identifying the geographical context (Southern colonies) and key agricultural exports (rice and indigo) is essential to choosing the correct historical consequence.
2
Evaluate the long-term impact of large-scale cash crop cultivation in this region.
Growing crops like rice and indigo required large amounts of land and intensive labor, which led planters to seek a permanent and controllable labor force.
This links the physical and economic environment of the Southern colonies to the development of labor systems.
3
Select the option that correctly describes the demographic and social consequence of this plantation agricultural system.
Planters turned away from temporary labor sources toward lifelong, hereditary chattel slavery of Africans, creating a plantation-based economy.
This directly demonstrates how cash crop agriculture led to the growth of chattel slavery in the Southern colonies.

Key Concept

Chesapeake and Southern Colonies
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Chesapeake and Southern Colonies

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