Well,
slavery, amongst European colonial powers, came into being because of
the establishment of settlements and colonies in the New World/Americas.
The sicknesses & illnesses the Europeans brought to the Americas
nearly wiped out the native residents, leaving little to no indigenous
populous. Also, the natural friction between the locals and colonisers
would've resulted in an obvious lack of cooperation and colonisers were
never sent over in huge numbers, resulting in limited manpower. So,
slavery was a way of providing a cheap labour & workforce in the new
territories without having to resettle entire European populations. The
colonisers ran the colonies and established settlements while the
slaves effectively built them and their economies.
