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In the 17th century Europeans began to establish settlements in the Americas. The division of the land into smaller units under private ownership became known as the plantation system. Starting in Virginia the system spread to the New England colonies. Crops grown on these plantations such as tobacco, rice, sugar cane and cotton were labour intensive. Slaves were in the fields from sunrise to sunset and at harvest time they did an eighteen hour day. Women worked the same hours as the men and pregnant women were expected to continue until their child was born.

European immigrants had gone to America to own their own land and were reluctant to work for others. Convicts were sent over from Britain but there had not been enough to satisfy the tremendous demand for labour. Planters therefore began to purchase slaves. At first these came from the West Indies but by the late 18th century they came directly from Africa and busy slave-markets were established in Philadelphia, Richmond, Charleston and New Orleans.

The death-rate amongst slaves was high. To replace their losses, plantation owners encouraged the slaves to have children. Child-bearing started around the age of thirteen, and by twenty the women slaves would be expected to have four or five children. To encourage child-bearing some population owners promised women slaves their freedom after they had produced fifteen children.

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Q: What is a plantation system?
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Related questions

What is the plantation system?

The plantation system was the division of the land into smaller parcels that were under private ownership. The plantation system started in Virginia.


Where was the plantation system first developed?

The plantation system was first developed by Portuguese explorers in West Africa.


Why was the plantation system developed in the south?

labor shortages, slavery and cash crops led to the development of the Plantation system.


How do you use plantation in a sentence?

The Plantation System is very familiar with the people in the old days.


What is the plantation system for banana?

Yes.


What year did the plantation system start?

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What were the weaknesses of the slave plantation system?

slaves


In the 1700s and early 1800s the plantation system and slavery grew in america. but why?

The invention of Eli Whitney's "Cotton Gin" expanded the plantation system and slavery.


What systems replaced the plantation system in th south?

Sharecropping and Tenant farming were two systems that replaced the plantation system in the south after the Civil War.


Why was the plantation system unprecedented?

The plantation system was unprecedented because it didn't exist in Europe. The system divided land into smaller units with the smaller units being under private ownership.


What did African Americans think would help them make better lives for themselves?

A.the return to the plantation system B.better education The answer is : A. the return to the plantation system


What systems replaced the plantation system in the south?

cotton gins