Slavery
The development of slavery
The first slaves to reach the mainland colonies arrived in Virginia as early as 1619. Their numbers at first grew very slowly: even in the 1670s Virginia's slave population did not exceed 2,000. Nor at first were slaves geographically concentrated: New York City in the 1690s had proportionately as many as Virginia.
In the early 18th Century the importation of slaves rose rapidly and slavery took firmer roots. Slavery had a number of distinctive advantages over white wage owners and indentured servants : slaves were permanent workers, they could not easi…
