History of slavery in Massachusetts
ASPECT OF HISTORY
History of slavery in massachusetts
Chattel slavery developed in Massachusetts in the first decades of colonial settlement, and it thrived well into the 18th century. Various forms of slavery in New England predated the establishment of the Plymouth Colony in 1620 and the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, but once established, colonists in both jurisdictions captured, purchased, and traded enslaved people—both African and indigenous—on a scale not previously seen in the region.