When tobacco became a vital resource in the Chesapeake settlements this led planters to rely more on African slaves. Even though indentured servants were usually more often used, during this time Farmers turned toward imported African slaves. They did this because African slaves were cheap labor, however, African slaves were a more expensive investment. When tobacco prices started to fluctuate and land grew scarce it make Chesapeake less appealing to the indentured slave, because of this their labor contracts increased. So, Chesapeake farmers decided to turn to the Atlantic slave trade. The Chesapeake farmers also turned from indentured servants, because they feared an uprising from the wealthy whites. This changed the demographics among the
