7
QuizMultiple Choice

The Middle Passage — Quiz

Question 7 • US History

Which of these events during the 1600s and 1700s led to the development of slavery in the Caribbean?

Answer
A
Thousands of natives of the West Indies were killed by disease.
B
Christopher Columbus arrived in the West Indies.
C
French, English, and Dutch traders fought for control of the West Indies.
D
French, English, and Dutch traders joined Spanish traders in the West Indies.

Explanation

Disease brought by Europeans killed many Indigenous people in the West Indies, reducing the population available for forced labor. European colonists then brought enslaved Africans to work on plantations, helping slavery develop in the Caribbean. The arrival of Columbus came earlier and began European contact, but the deaths from disease created the labor shortage that drove the expansion of slavery.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.

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