“The beginning of European settlement of the Americas from 1492 was marked by an extensive demand for labor. As the assigned class readings and film documentaries show, the earliest forms of labor involved both coerced labor and forms of indentured servitude that utilized the work of Europeans, Native Americans and African peoples. By the late 1600s, this fluid labor arrangement became more restrictive and formalized, with a form of racially (African) based slavery imposed in North America. What factors contributed to this development? How and why did this transformation occur?”

Write a 5 page (double spaced) paper that addresses the question posed above. In your response, be sure to base your claims on materials read in the assigned readings (you do not need to read additional sources for this assignment.)

Textbook: Rosenweig, et al. Who Built America? Working People and the Nation’s History Volume 1: Since 1877, 3rd edition, Bedford/St. Martin Press, 2008