Timeline

Year	State and National Events	Slavery and Racial Issues
1607	The first English settlement, in Jamestown VA
1619		Nineteen Africans are shipped to Jamestown, Virginia, on Dutch ships, as indentured servants.
1620	The Mayflower arrives in Plymouth MA.
1624		Africans are imported as slaves to the Hudson River Valley in New York State.
1638		A ship named Desire arrives in Boston with its first African slaves.
1641		Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth are the first colonies to authorize slavery through legislation as part of the 1641 Body of Liberties.
1645		The triangular slave trade begins about this time.
1661		The Barbados Slave Code establishes a legal base for slavery in Barbados. Slavery, following the West Indies model, is considered an essential ingredient in the successful establishment of certain crops
1664		When the English take control of New York, slaves make up about 20% of the population of the city.
1675		King Philip’s War begins in New England. By its end hundreds of natives will be forced into servitude or sold into slavery in the West Indies.
1680		Organized agricultural slavery is now well established in the Chesapeake region; the number of slaves will increase greatly in the next few years.
1688		The first American protest against slavery is organized by Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania.
1696		South Carolina adopts the provisions of the Barbados Slave Code and establishes the basic outline for slavery in the colonies.