The institution of forced labor existed in all of the thirteen original colonies, but its presence and character differed significantly between the northern and southern regions. In the northern colonies, while enslavement was legal and practiced, it never became the dominant economic engine as it did further south. Understanding the factors contributing to this regional divergence requires examining economic structures, social attitudes, and religious influences.
The northern colonies possessed a more diversified economy characterized by manufacturing, trade, and small-scale agriculture. This stood in contrast to the southern colonies, which relied heavily on large-scale plantation agriculture producing cash crops like tobacco, cotton, and rice. The northern economic model did not necessitate a large, readily available, and exploitable labor force to the same degree. Furthermore, social and religious sentiments in the North, particularly among the Quakers and other religious groups, increasingly questioned the morality of enslavement. While not immediately leading to abolition, these sentiments fostered a climate less receptive to the expansion of the institution.