Which system helped sustain the labor force needed for sugar and tobacco plantations in the Southern colonies?

The system that significantly contributed to sustaining the labor force for sugar and tobacco plantations in the Southern colonies was indentured servitude. Under this system, individuals—typically young men from England—would agree to work for a certain number of years in exchange for passage to the colonies, room, and board. This arrangement provided planters with a steady supply of laborers to manage the intensive agricultural demands of cash crops like tobacco.

Indentured servitude allowed plantation owners to cultivate large areas of land without the immediate financial burden of paying laborers a regular wage. The system was designed to meet the high demand for labor caused by the lucrative nature of these cash crops, which required extensive cultivation and harvesting. While some indentured servants gained their freedom and land after their contracts were fulfilled, over time, this system evolved and was supplemented by the rise of African slavery, which later became the dominant labor source in the Southern colonies.

Other systems, such as land grants, would not directly provide labor but rather distributed land ownership. Enslavement of Native Americans was less prevalent in the Southern colonies compared to African slavery. Free labor markets did not exist in the same manner as they do in modern economies and did not meet the labor requirements specific to plantation agriculture during that period