Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and European colonization of the Americas

To what extent was the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade a central component of European colonization of the Americas? Explain the reasons for the rise of the slave trade and its growing significance to the economies and societies of Europe, Africa and America. Compare the experience of enslaved Africans and the middle passage with the experience of European indentured servants. How and why did slavery in the British colonies come to be defined by perceived race?