Plantations and Mines Labor Force

Definition

The group of enslaved Africans who were forced to work in the agricultural plantations and mines in the Americas during the colonial period.

Analogy

Think of this like a school project where one person is doing all the work but everyone else gets credit. The slaves did all the hard labor, but their masters reaped all the benefits.

Related terms

Indentured Servitude: A system where an individual works without wages for a specified number of years in exchange for passage to a new country or training in a trade.

Cash Crops: Crops produced for commercial value rather than personal use, such as tobacco, sugar, and cotton during colonial times.

Colonial Economy: An economic system used by colonies that is based on maintaining the mother country's wealth by exporting raw materials and importing finished goods.