(04) 1700s People Were Kidnapped From the Continent of Africa, Forced into Slavery in the American Colonies and Exploited (c. NATIONAL ARCHIVE)

This exploitation of Africa’s people would continue all throughout the 1700s. People were kidnapped from Africa, forced into slavery in the American colonies, and were exploited to work as slaves. They were forced to labor in the production of crops such as tobacco and cotton. This reliance of the economy on African slaves would set the stage for America’s civil war later in the century. Tobacco, rice, and indigo plantations were plentiful in the southern Chesapeake Bay colonies such as Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia. After the American revolution, some Americans saw the hypocrisy of fighting for their own independence while believing it was wrong for slaves to do the same. These Africans, who involuntarily immigrated to the Americas, as well as their descendents, would play a large part in the shaping of history of the United States in the centuries to come.