Enslaved Africans worked under brutal conditions in the fields to raise tobacco and sugar cane. In Brazil, the Caribbean islands, and North America, there was a great demand for labor to cultivate these crops. African slave trade became an integral part of the expanding colonial economy, since African slaves were well suited to carry out the plantations work. However, slaves suffered from extreme brutal conditions on the plantations such as malnutrition, poor housing, illnesses, inadequate clothing allowances, and overwork which contributed to a high mortality rate.