Answer: The need for cheap labor
Explanation: it was cheaper to simply buy a person up front then it was to pay them and have them quit at any time, the only cost for slaves was buying them and their food.
The correct answer is C) the death of many American Indians to disease and the planting of labor-intensive crops.
The other options of the question were A) the lack of skilled labor force in America and the decline of the West African population caused residents to seek a living elsewhere. B) the shipment of gold from the Americas to Europe caused plantation owners to seek inexpensive laborers. D) the European investment in trading companies and the rise of Christianity in the Americas.
What gave rise to the slave trade was the death of many American Indians to disease and the planting of labor-intensive crops.
The owners of large southern plantations in the North American territory needed many extra hands to work in the farm fields to produce the number of cash crops that were needed for internal consumption, trade, and export to Europe. That is why they bought slaves brought from Africa in the so-called slave trade.
