The growth of slavery was encouraged by several economic, geographic, and social factors. Economic factors were the Slave Trade, the cost, and the size of the plantations. A main geographic factor that encouraged the growth of slavery was the type of crop that was being produced. Social factors encouraged slavery as well. There are more factors that encouraged slavery but the more important ones are the economic, geographic, and social factors because they show how the growth of slavery affected the economy of the southern colonies. A particular economic factor that encouraged slavery was the Slave Trade. This trade brought African Americans from Western Africa to be sold off at auctions. Male slaves who were young sold for more money than old and female slaves. By buying a couple slaves, the strenuous labor that the plantation owner would have had to do, was eliminated. This was important because the more crops that a plantation had, the more labor was required. A problem with this was that it was unusual for slave owners to own more than a couple slaves, thus the slaves had to work more. The more the slaves worked, the more harvesting they did. This benefited the economy by creating a system for the circulation of money. .
The types of crops being produced were geographic factors that influenced slavery. The main crops of this time period were Tobacco, Indigo, and Rice. Indigo was the most popular and expensive crop due to it being all natural. These crops were also cash crops. Cash crops were grown specifically in the southern colonies due to the rivers being used as a transportation method. Crops produced were controlled by banks because the banks decided what plantation owners the money was to be lent to, allowing for the banks to decide what crops were to be planted and how much were to be planted.The growth of slavery grew because plantations in the south grew crops most of the year and this required slaves to be present at all times.
