Twenty-five hundred dollars, then, may be taken as the standard price of first-class slaves in the confederacy, but when it is remembered that this is in confederate money, which is worth less than one-twelfth its face in gold, it will be seen that the real price, by this standard, is only about $200.

By 1675 slavery was well established, and by 1700 slaves had almost entirely replaced indentured servants. With plentiful land and slave labor available to grow a lucrative crop, southern planters prospered, and family-based tobacco plantations became the economic and social norm.

Northern states abolished slavery in the late 1700s and early 1800s. And southern critics, including slave-owners such as thomas jefferson, arose in the upper south. While some founders believed that slavery would last forever, most foresaw its demise.

Though it is impossible to give accurate figures, some historians have estimated that 6 to 7 million enslaved people were imported to the new world during the 18th century alone, depriving the african continent of some of its healthiest and ablest men and women.

Throughout the 17th century, european settlers in north america turned to enslaved africans as a cheaper, more plentiful labor source than indentured servants, who were mostly poor europeans.

1750: white slaveowners live in cities like charleston or savannah, the majority of the 40,000 slaves live on plantations.

There were almost 700 thousand slaves in the us in 1790, which equated to approximately 18 percent of the total population, or roughly one in every six people.

After the american revolution, the southern slave population exploded, reaching about 1.1 million in 1810 and over 3.9 million in 1860.

Aggregate number--the number of slaves in the united states in 1850 was 3,204,313 the number in each of the states at this and every previous census will be found in the fol- lowing table: table lxxi-slave population of the united states.

Antebellum slavery. By 1830 slavery was primarily located in the south, where it existed in many different forms. African americans were enslaved on small farms, large plantations, in cities and towns, inside homes, out in the fields, and in industry and transportation.

One of the primary reasons for the reinvigoration of slavery was the invention and rapid widespread adoption of the cotton gin. This machine allowed southern planters to grow a variety of cotton - short staple cotton - that was especially well suited to the climate of the deep south.

During the first half of the nineteenth century, demand for cotton led to the expansion of plantation slavery. By 1850, enslaved people were growing cotton from south carolina to texas.

The revolution had contradictory effects on slavery. The northern states either abolished the institution outright or adopted gradual emancipation schemes. In the south, the revolution severely disrupted slavery, but ultimately white southerners succeeded in strengthening the institution.