ECONOMIC – Until 1775*Title: “Slavery and its role in the economy of the South” The southern colonies of North America based their economy on agriculture , who led their agrarian workforce. Cash crops were especially crucial to the southern colonies, such as tobacco and cotton, both of which expanded into plantations. Indentured servants operated these plantations with promises of land and “freedom dues,” and some of them actually moved up the economic ladder. Planters quickly gained a sense of power because they were usually the ones financing these workers to come to America and thus gaining land ownership (this was known as the headright system). By the end of the 17th century, opportunities for indentured servants diminished as the cost of migration and the threat of a population plagued by excess labor became more apparent. The overpopulation of indentured servants fostered a hostile and rebellious environment of poor white workers in the southern colonies. As a result, Southerners viewed slavery as an alternative to labor. Many slaves were brought via the triangular trade, crossing the transatlantic trade route because of their specialized skills in growing crops. The southern colonies had numerous rivers and fertile soil that made it easy to transport crops. Many indentured servants were replaced by slaves in the late 1600s, continuing unsuccessful occupations. The African slave population exploded in states like South Carolina and Massachusetts. The plantations they worked on were an integral part of the economic foundation of the Southern economy in terms of farms and labor.ECONOMIC – TO 1775**Title:...... middle of paper ... ...control, the first BUS was destroyed. During Andrew Jackson's presidency, he was highly suspicious of the practices of the big banks; in other words, the Bank of the United States, which he saw as a tool that only benefited the rich and kept ordinary people down. The 2nd Bank of the United States, led by Nicholas Biddle, reduced bank failures and enabled economic expansion with credit from the Washington government after the War of 1812. When Henry Clay forced the rechartering of the BUS earlier c. Jackson, the bill was immediately rejected. Jackson went so far as to withdraw BUS funds and deposit them in wildcat banks, killing him after exhausting his wealth in 1836. However, wildcat banks were extremely unreliable, as they continually disrupted the harmony of the economy and caused economic crashes. throughout the 19th century.