Why+did+slavery+grow+to+be+such+an+important+institution+in+Colonial+America,+and+how+did+it+divide+North+and+South+in+Colonial+Amercia

In Colonial America, slavery grew to be an central part of society and it separated the Northern and Southern colonies. One of the factors that lead to slavery was the African's immunity to the diseases that Europeans brought over to America. The colonists wanted to use the Native Americans for servants because they were closer, but the Indians were dying from the diseases. A convenient way for the colonies to get slaves was from the triangular trade that brought over Africans for tobacco to bring back to Europe. The triangular trade was a success; and few indentured servants wanted to come over because there would be less land to own when they would be done with their contract. After getting some slaves the southern government made "slave codes" where the owner of the plantation would own the slave and his family. This kind of ownership was called "chattel". When Bacon's Rebellion happened plantation owner's figured that they could not control the indentured servants much longer. That was another reason they turned to African slaves, because they were disciplined and didn't know anything else. Plantations needed lots of people for planting crops of rice and tobacco. There was an unlimited amount of slaves that were used to demanding work, superior at planting crops, and had earlier used skills similar to planting tobacco. There were always going to be differences in the Southern colonies compared to the Northern colonies, but when slavery became popular those differences became more defined and created new. The Northern colonies were known for farming, shipping, and, later on, industry. The Southern colonies were known for and focused on plantation labor. Slavery brought out major differences in what they focused to better themselves. The north colonies focused more on education, cities, and infrastructure. The south focused on their own plantation and teaching their kids how to run one. There were hardly any towns in the Southern colonies, only plantations. The north and south had been united, but when Africans came they colonies grew apart because of their values. Once the south had started up their plantations their priorities had changed from the north. The slaves were a benefit to the Southern colonies but created variance between the north and south.