Byrd grew up in the late 1600s on a tobacco plantation. How did that plantation operate economically so that the Byrd family grew wealthy? How did the way the plantation operated show how the great economic expansion of the British Empire operated in Virginia and connected that colony to the other parts of Britain's triangular trade?

During the late 1600s, plantations were starting to become more common in the New World. This was particularly the case with tobacco plantations. Such plantations used two types of labor: slaves and indentured servants. However, indentured servants were still more common at that time. Therefore, it is likely that the Byrd family grew wealthy thanks to the labor of indentured servants.

Most indentured servants came from England. Most slaves came from Africa. Therefore, the triangular trade was vital when it came to connecting the colonies to its sources of labor. This ability to connect such distant regions foreshadows the rise of Great Britain as a global empire.

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