The Slave Trade in Colonial America

Slavery was introduced to North America in the sixteenth century, as Spanish and Portuguese settlers relied on slave labor to extract the resources of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, and other colonies. When the British established North American colonies in the early seventeenth century, slavery gradually became prevalent. This book will examine how slaves were treated in colonial America, and how laws and attitudes about the institution of slavery changed prior to the American Revolution and the establishment of the United States.