1. Slavery in Colonial America

2. Transatlantic Slave Trade & Slavery
Important Dates
1502 – first recorded African slaves in the “New World” were brought to the West Indies (islands of the Caribbean) to work on sugar plantations.
1619 – first Africans were brought to Jamestown as indentured servants
1661 – House of Burgesses passed a law making all African workers slaves for life.
1708 – more than half of the people living in South Carolina were African slaves

3. Transatlantic Slave Trade & Slavery
Important People or Groups
Plantation owners of the Caribbean – first to use Africans as slaves
Residents of Jamestown – first to bring Africans to the colonies as indentured servants
House of Burgesses – passed the law making African workers slaves for life
Southern Colonies – Plantation owners required more workers and imported enslaved Africans

4. Transatlantic Slave Trade & Slavery
Key Terms
Slavery - the treatment of people as property. People who are denied freedom in this way are said to be enslaved.
Triangular Trade Routes – the trading of goods and slaves between Europe, Africa, and North America.
Indentured Servants – laborer who agreed to work without pay for a certain period of time in exchange for passage to America. They had the same rights and freedoms as white servants and could buy land and servants of their own once their service ended.

5. Transatlantic Slave Trade & Slavery
Primary Impact on American History
Slave trade began because of a need for laborers to work the plantations in the West Indies (Caribbean)
Slave trading became a very profitable business for some colonists. They became very wealthy.
Owning slaves became the way of life for most people in the south who worked in agriculture.
Neither slaves nor freed African Americans had the right to vote. This remained a law until the 15th Amendment was ratified in 1869.

6. Transatlantic Slave Trade & Slavery
Locations
Western Africa – Most slaves were captured and forced into slavery
West Indies – first place where African slaves were used in North America
Jamestown – first place where slaves were brought in the colonies
Southern Colonies – place where slavery was most popular