The Development of Slavery in New England, 1637 to 1700

When one thinks about the history of slavery in North America, they usually associate this period with the enslavement of Africans during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. However, this essay will show that the enslavement of Indigenous populations in Puritan colonies, namely in the New England area, was an indispensable historical phenomenon to study that predated the era of African slavery. This essay will begin by giving a thorough account of the history of slavery leading up to the early seventeenth century. Then, it will delve into the complex narrative of slavery in the New England colonies from 1637 to 1698. The essay will mainly focus on the perspectives of law and diplomacy, discussing legal codes and diplomatic actions that normalized the enslavement of Natives. However, these laws and actions were often ambiguous and intricate, meriting further examination. This history demonstrates that although the laws in New England were often uneven and unclear, slavery was present throughout in various forms and continued to grow throughout the century, thereby playing a formative role in the development of American slavery.