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These immigrants had no long term plan of colonization, therefore they worked as little as possible, drank as much as possible, and barely exported enough tobacco to sustain them. In a blink of an eye, with some help from the Dutch, sugar cane crops blew up. The Dutch taught colonists how to process the sugarcane and brought black slaves to the table. Near the end of the next century, black slaves were outnumbering white planters 4 to 1. Slave rebellion rose, as did the fear of the planters. So, a strong hand and brutal punishments were used to keep uprisings from getting out of control. It wasn't long before the colonists were looking for a way out. The overflow from the islands landed in Carolina.

Economic growth was planned around cash crops and slave labor. They often traded with Indians, and soon began a business of slave trade with them as well. It became a survival of the fittest; either join the trade or become part of it. Even the colonist who deplored the activities involved in slave owning became slave owners themselves. Raid on Spanish colonies produced an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 Indian slaves by 1715. The Yamasee Indians, a previously friendly group, became fearful that they too would fall victim to the colonist. They fought back killing many and capturing more; whom they brought to Florida to sell as slaves.

As Carolinians became more dependent on their slave labor, they formed alliances with them and began to give them more freedom within their bondage. White owners worked alongside their laborers, and black cowboys were free to roam on the ranches. Blacks were also enlisted in the militia during the Indian wars, thus weakening the racial dominance and making whites more reliant on blacks. In the early 1700s blacks were the majority, and even outnumbered whites in many regions. The fear of uprising caused Carolinians to enact strict slave codes similar to those in the Caribbean Islands, and further surprising the black slaves.

Georgia began developing in the 1730s with more English Protestants, as well as German Jews and Spanish Jews. They began the conquest with outlawing slavery and hard liquor in hopes of instilling hard work ethic and morality. Uprising from native colonists caused the trustees of Georgia to lift the bands on slavery shortly before 1752.

Free and bound workers had almost always made up the larger part of immigration. These included free white laborers in search of work, white and black indentured servants, and black slaves. From 1730 to 1750 one third of all immigrants were black, by 1760 this number rose to three quarters.

Where a slave was traded to made a large impact on their lives. Heading south to Carolina or Georgia meant they would be living on large plantations with 50 or more other slaves. They had very little contact with whites, and adapted to a task system where they where they could work hard, finish their job, and be off for the rest of the day. If they headed toward Chesapeake, they moved to smaller plantations with fewer slaves. They had more contact with whites, and had to answer directly to their masters. These slaves tended to be treated more like a lower class part of the family.

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