Slavery in Colonial America

The origins of slavery in the colonial United States (1600–1776) are complex and there are several theories that have been proposed to explain the trade. It was largely tied to European colonies' need for labor, especially plantation agricultural labor in their Caribbean sugar colonies operated by Great Britain, France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic.

Most slaves who were brought or kidnapped to the Thirteen British colonies which later became the Eastern seaboard of the United States were imported from the Caribbean, not directly from Africa. They arrived in the Caribbean predominantly as a result of the Atlantic slave trade. Although slavery of indigenous peoples also occurred in the North American colonies, by comparison of scale it was less important. Slave status for Africans usually became hereditary.

While they knew about Spanish and Portuguese slave trading, the British did not conceive of using slave labor in the Americas until the 17th century. British travelers were fascinated by the dark-skinned people they found in West Africa, and sought to create mythologies that situated these new human beings in their view of the cosmos.

The first Africans to arrive in England came voluntarily with John Lok (an ancestor of the famous philosopher John Locke) in 1555. Lok intended to teach them English in order to facilitate trading of material goods. This model gave way to a slave trade initiated by John Hawkins, who captured 300 Africans and sold them to the Spanish. Blacks in England were subordinate but did not have the legal status of chattel slaves.

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