In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the African population in North America grew as a result of the need cheap labor to assist in A) expanding New England's shipbuilding industry.
B) manufacturing factory goods for sale in England.
C) building roads to increase trade between the colonies
D) growing cash crops in the Southern and Middle Colonies.

A) expanding New England's shipbuilding industry.

Explanation:

Shipbuilding and fishing have become one of the most important economic factors in New England. The ports of New England became the most visited in the world. The transportation of people and goods continued to take place mainly by the ocean. The port of New England, Boston, has become the main and busiest port center globally. In such circumstances, there was a need for labor from Africa.