The 13 Colonies: The Colonial Labor System

The colonial labor systems differed from all the 13 colonies. The labor systems were established based on where the colony lied. If the colony was near the oceans a labor system was most likely farming. If the colony was farther south it was mostly agriculture and slaves and the tobacco industry. The north colonies was more based of the town there were in and what was needed. Labor systems are the foundations of the colony because they determine how the economy strives or falls.

New England colonies had a mixed and striving economy. A form of labor in the New England colonies was fishing. The colonies closer to the coast, fishing was a high income and trade product. This caused a high demand for fish. The people who lived more inland, Agriculture and planting were a high source of labor. To own land and keeping it up was extremely important. Indentured servants were the main source of labor. Indentured servants made an agreement. That said they

were to work for a certain amount of years for a passage to the new world with no pay. Slave labor wasn’t at a high demand but Massachusetts was the first to use slaves. The New England colonies started to realize the supply and demand that slaves would produce would over indentured slaves. Rhode Island main labor system was farming. The crops they produced where corn, squash and beans. The labor workers Rhode Island had was Manual workers, sailors, skilled tradesman, and servants. The classes determined what craft the people took place in. The lower classes were mostly the indentured servants and the upper classes were the ship builders.
The Chesapeake Bay consisted of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Maryland.

The labor system varied from the one in New England based on the climate and demand for certain items. The main crop for the Chesapeake Bay was tobacco. The economy was based off tobacco. So the supply and demand for tobacco increased. For thus reason the demand for slaves was at a high. Slaves were the main source of labor. Slaves were being brought from Africa to the bay to produce the tobacco. The slaves had terrible living conditions and terribly shipping conditions. The number of slaves outweighed the number of white men. The Chesapeake Bay used indentured servants for a very long time but when they saw how slave produced more they didn’t need the indentured servants. Indentured servants started not risking the trip to the new world because they felt it was not working it. There were also other labor systems. In Virginia, there were shoe makers, brick makers, and tailors. In the Carolinas, there were mostly farmers and craftsmen. Maryland had

mining.
The Chesapeake and the New England colonies labor systems compared in many ways. In both colonies they used a lot of agricultural labor. Agricultural kept both of their economies striving. The one labor source they both had were the indentured slaves. Indentured slaves at the, beginning of the creating of these colonies, were extremely important. The farmers need people to do the work for them. Indentured servants motives were to get a new start in life and a new beginning. The two colonies differences were that the people of New England colonies didn’t have a high demand for saves. Only a few planters had slaves. In the Chesapeake Bay everyone had slaves. They need slaves more because of the tobacco supply.
The lave labor plays a huge part in the colonies. Depending on where the colony was , determined what was need and what was not. In the Chesapeake bay there was a high demand for manual labor unlike in the New England colonies. From the labor systems to the economy they all correspond with one or another. How you you fall in the social order also determines what labor you do. So labor systems are the center of the colony.