Period 2

The extent to which trans-Atlantic interactions from 1600-1763 contributed to maintaining continuity as well as fostering change in labor systems in the British North American colonies was strong and effective. The labor systems in New England, the Middle and Southern colonies, and the continuities will be used to develop and support this statement.

At the time, the labor systems in New England mainly dealt with and included small family farms which grew goods in England in return for industrial goods. These goods consisted of steel, for example. They were shipped by the ships which were made by those New England colonists. They had, at the time, the best wood/timber which caused them to do so. This also was a very good thing for the economy of the time since when goods were produced and eventually shipped out, they created a chain reaction in which the economy strengthened and built up further to continue that same process.

The Middle and Southern colonies are another big portion. At first, they relied on the indentured servants. Indentured servants were people who mainly cleaned for very low amounts of money and basically just stayed at “home” the entire time. They relied on these servants until Bacon’s Rebellion. That was sparked by big demands of labor since England and other countries demanded even more products. This labor ended up turning to Africans. Once they were focused on Africa, a triangular trade was put into action. America sent out raw goods to England. They then sent industrial goods to the West Indies. Africa in the end also got what they wanted by trading using slaves. Most of them went to America.

The continuity aspect is supported because of the demand for labor, which caused a constant need for slaves. However, it also fostered change since the high demand caused tension in the south. This ended up leading to the shift from indentured servants to slaves. And despite the servants’ rebellion, the flow of labor

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