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.

European colonists turned to African slave labor because indigenous peoples in the Caribbean and parts of South America suffered catastrophic population losses from Old World diseases (and from harsh labor and warfare), leaving a labor shortage for plantations.