Slave breeding in the United States
Slave breeding was long a part of slavery. As in other slave countries, its purpose was to make more slaves. Slave breeding became more important in the United States the 19th century when the Atlantic slave trade ended. As with other commodities, scarcity caused the price of slaves to rise, so more slaves meant more money for their owners. Pregnancy was encouraged. Many slave masters mated with their own slaves to make more slave children. It produced mulatto children. White men who owned slaves would often rape black women.