Tobacco demand drove the rise of African slave labor in the colonies

Evidence

Fulfilling the voracious European demand, tobacco exports from this region skyrocketed from 20,000 pounds in 1619 to 38 million in 1700. The imports of captives (and racist ideas) soared with tobacco exports. In the 1680s, enslaved Africans eclipsed White servants as the principal labor force. In 1698, the crown ended the Royal African Company’s monopoly and opened the slave trade. Purchasing enslaved Africans became the investment craze. — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 161

Categorization

• XREF: Direct evidence for Kendi’s core inversion: economic self-interest (tobacco profits) came first and drove slave policy; the racist ideas (‘imports of racist ideas soared with tobacco exports’) followed to justify it.