How did the economy of the American colonies affect enslaved workers from Africa? Enslaved workers from Africa were sent to the middle colonies to work in the mines digging for coal. Enslaved workers from Africa were brought to New England to do the dangerous jobs of fishing and whaling. Few enslaved workers from Africa were needed in the South because the growth of cash crops was limited. The number of enslaved workers from Africa increased in the South because they were needed to grow labor-intensive crops.