Question

What led Europeans to bring large numbers of African slaves to South America and the Caribbean in the seventeenth century?

Europeans lacked the knowledge to successfully grow crops in the Southern Hemisphere.


The Europeans hoped to establish the regions as major hubs of trade between Europe and Asia.


Much of the native population who had provided forced labor for the Europeans died from disease.


The discovery of the Northwest Passage improved transportation between the Old and New Worlds

Answer 1

Much of the native population who had provided forced labor for the Europeans died from disease.

Explanation: European contact brought epidemics (smallpox, measles, etc.) that devastated indigenous peoples, creating a labor shortage for labor-intensive plantation crops (especially sugar). Europeans turned to the transatlantic slave trade to supply African laborers for South American and Caribbean colonies.