The slave trade increased in the seventeenth century, as more large-scale agricultural production increased the need for labor. The demand for sugar, a highly profitable crop that grew well in various parts of the Americas, continued to grow. And the Europeans introduced large-scale production of indigo, rice, tobacco, coffee, cocoa, and cotton. Imports of African slaves increased over the latter half of the 17th century and into the 18th. Approximately 1.3 million slaves were exported on the trans-Atlantic route in the 17th century; over 6 million were exported in the 18th century.
