The major reason that slavery took root in the colonies was due to a shortage of labor.  The colonies did not have a large enough population to sustain surplus agriculture that could produce a profit. The colonists earlier attempted to use the Native populations, but their knowledge of the land made them difficult to enslave.  Indentured servitude was not a strong alternative because there was an end date when indentured servants were contractually freed.  The use of slaves from Africa presented a couple of advantages.  First, because of their different appearance, it was hard for them to escape and blend into the population.  Secondly, there was already a structure for slave trading within Africa that allowed slaves to be easily purchased in West Africa.  A third advantage for the use of slaves in the New World was that it was difficult for them to escape the plantation because they were not familiar with the territory. Once a slave was purchased by a plantation, all of the children of the slaves automatically would become slaves.  This meant the initial investment in the purchase of a slave could net profits for generations to come.  The use of African slaves, starting in 1619, solved the problem of the labor shortage in the new colonies.