The Atlantic slave trade had a profound impact on American economic development by providing a forced labor system that underpinned the agrarian economy, particularly in the Southern states. Enslaved Africans were used primarily in the cultivation of cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, and sugar, which were crucial for export and profit. This trade led to the growth of plantation economies and contributed to the wealth of slave-owners and merchants involved in the trade. Moreover, it resulted in systemic racial inequalities that would deeply affect social, political, and economic structures in the United States for generations.