Which region's labor force moved from indentured servants to enslaved Africans by the late 17th century?

• A. New England
• B. Chesapeake colonies
• C. Middle Atlantic
• D. Southern colonies

Answer: (B)

The main idea is how labor systems in colonial America shifted from indentured European servants to enslaved Africans, and the shift occurred most clearly in the Chesapeake colonies by the late 1600s. Tobacco farming in Virginia and Maryland created a demand for a large, controllable workforce. Indentured servitude offered a temporary solution, but after several years many servants earned their freedom and sought land, which increased social tension and made it harder for planters to maintain a stable labor supply. At the same time, planters began to see enslaved Africans as a permanent, hereditary labor force that could be kept separate from white settlers, reducing the risk of uprisings and giving owners more control over labor.

Legislation in the Chesapeake also codified this shift. Laws established that enslaved status could be inherited, children of enslaved women were enslaved, and distinctions based on race hardened, creating a racially defined system of slavery. These legal changes, combined with the economics of tobacco and the downsides of relying on indentured servitude, pushed the labor force decisively toward enslaved Africans by the late 17th century.

While slavery existed elsewhere, the Chesapeake colonies show the most pronounced move from indentured servitude to enslaved labor in that period, shaping the region’s social and economic landscape for generations.