People they could abuse without having to pay for their efforts. This is how slavery was created. Africans were the perfect target for these conditions. They could work for free, endure abuse (without dying because they had learned their lesson from the Native Americans), and there was a whole country full of them to import to Europe if one died. Another advantage of having Africans as slaves was that they were immune to most European diseases. They had no one to help them escape or fight against their mistreatment, no friends in the Americas, no allies, and no knowledge of what America's disposition looked like or even where America would flee to in their homes in Africa, they were the perfect type to be slaves. The appeal of having these people live on their land to take care of their farms was to keep an eye on their investments. Slaves reproduced with each other and children were held hostage or born