Before the 70s of the 17th century, tobacco production in the Chesapeake region was just beginning, it was marginalized in the Atlantic economy, and the dominant price of slaves was determined by the market in the sugar cane-producing region.
As a result, Chesapeake plantation owners had to accept the human input they could, often slaves considered "second-rate" by the sugarcane-producing areas, such as unruly people, women, children, etc.
After the 80s, tobacco production in the Chesapeake region improved, and it became dependent on a larger import of African slaves. However, in terms of the number of imports between 1681 and 1713, the 20,629 people in the region are only a fraction of the 129194 in Jamaica, and much worse than Barbados (104297).
Biafra Bay slaves had a poor reputation, and slave traders in the Caribbean often sold them at discounts, but the Chesapeake region imported the highest percentage of Biafra Bay slaves in the British colonies.
Moreover, the male and female slaves of Biafra Bay were not evenly exported to the colonies. As a result, the Chesapeake region accepted a higher percentage of male slaves.
According to sampling statistics, among the slaves exported to the Chesapeake region between 1658~1713, the proportion of men was as high as 66%, which was more than 6 percentage points higher than that exported to Barbados and Jamaica. This is clearly detrimental to the natural growth of the population.
However, from the 1830s onwards, South Carolina's low-income rice areas increased in status, and by the time of the Revolution, the lowlands were "the richest and most prosperous place in British North America" and even "the most prosperous place on earth".
The Chesapeake slave imports showed signs of marginalization again, and their numbers began to decline, and their curve began to move horizontally in the 30s, declined in the 40s, and by 1768 and 1772, Virginia's imports had been reduced from the top of the mainland to the second.
And as male slaves were increasingly exported to other places with high profits, the imported sex ratio tended to be as balanced as it was in the early days. This is a catalyst for the self-sufficiency of the population within the Chesapeake region.
First, inland waterways were the starting point for the regional distribution of slave populations. In the Atlantic economies of the 17th and 18th centuries, transportation systems based on monsoons, ocean currents, and inland waterways served as a bridge between plantation economies and slave-exporting regions and Western European markets.
For example, the Gulf Stream in the Caribbean naturally links the West Indies to the colonies of British North America, while the dense rivers of the Chesapeake region are an integral part of the Atlantic commercial network.
The region has a humid climate, abundant rainfall, and a rich and open plain in the hinterland, interspersed with large and small peninsulas around the bay, and the ports on the peninsula that pass on ships like fishing nets.
Where waterways were developed, it was often the busiest place for product trafficking and tobacco production, as well as the most active place for the slave trade. In Maryland, slaves were sold in Annapolis and Baltimore on the west coast of the Chesapeake region, and Nottingham and Moorborough on the east coast. In Virginia, slave markets were scattered along the banks of the Potomac, Rapa Hannock, York, and James rivers.
In the 20s of the 18th century, slave traders generally traveled by entering the York River, stopping at Yorktown, then moving to West Point, then returning to the Korotman and Rapahannok Rivers along the peninsula, and even crossing Mount Airy to peddle slaves;
After the 40s, it began to go up to the upper James River. Slaves traveled from the trading points in these places to the various plantations. The Chesapeake region had a typical agrarian economy with few concentrated urban settlements, which resulted in a relatively dispersed population that did not have as many slaves as South Carolina.
In general, the farther from the coast and river channels, the lower the population density; The higher the altitude, the later the blacks settled. Of course, this general trend will be adjusted by the cultivation of tobacco, for example, after the 40s, the density of blacks in the upper James River gradually crossed the middle reaches due to the tobacco boom.
Second, tobacco production coincided with the regional distribution of slaves, and the prosperity of tobacco production was proportional to the density of slave populations. Sweet tobacco can only grow in alluvial areas with fertile land, and the soil on the banks of the York and Rapa Hannock rivers is very suitable.
It can provide top-quality sweet cigarettes for the English market, and it is also the place with the closest business links with England; By the mid-18th century, it absorbed 80% of imported slaves, and it was surrounded by the most densely populated and plantations.
It's just that the crop variety is quite monolithic and heavily dependent on bulk crops. By the 30s and 40s, the black population had grown naturally and imports were declining. In the lower James River and the bottom of the Delmarva Peninsula, the soil is not very suitable for tobacco.
Around 1700, most plantation owners had abandoned the cultivation of bulk crops in favor of the production of marine feeds, timber, apple juice, grains and other products. However, due to economic development, there were still a certain number of slaves.
The Potomac River region is marginalized by tobacco production. Its basin could only grow low-quality Oronok tobacco and was largely dependent on England's re-export to Western Europe, with a small number of slaves.
However, from the banks of the Maryland side of the Potomac River, a considerable number of slaves were smuggled into the northern narrow part of Virginia in the 50s, where import taxes were lower than Maryland.
The counties of Surrey, Prince George and Enrique were located at the outposts of seafaring ships in the James River area, and because of the cultivation of ordinary Oronok tobacco, the number of slaves disembarked there before the 30s was small, and the population density around them was not large.
From this to the west, adjacent to the James River and its southern counties of Piedmont, high-quality Oronok tobacco can be produced everywhere, the price of which is similar to that of sweet tobacco in the tidal zone;
In the 40s, it was densely populated and had the largest number of slaves in the upper James River area. The spread of tobacco cultivation in southern and central Piedmont led to a rapid population concentration in these areas. Thus, the industrial layout (i.e. tobacco production) constituted a decisive factor in the distribution of the slave population.
