Final answer:
The first Africans were brought to the English colony of Jamestown, Virginia, as indentured servants in 1619. Over time, the labor demands led to a transition to chattel slavery, making this year the beginning of racially-based lifelong slavery in English America.
Step-by-step explanation:
First Africans Arriving in Virginia
The year African slaves were first brought to America by English colonists was 1619. This significant event marked the beginning of a harsh trend toward the enslavement of Africans in the New World, setting a devastating precedent for centuries to come. In that year, a Dutch ship brought the first Africans to the English colony of Jamestown, Virginia. These individuals were originally considered indentured servants, similar to their white counterparts, coming with some possibility of freedom after a certain period of service. Unlike the English, the conversion to Christianity and hard work could grant Africans the status of free landowners. However, as the seventeenth century progressed, the labor demands of growing cash crops like tobacco and rice led to a shift from indentured servitude to lifelong chattel slavery, including hereditary bondage. By the end of the seventeenth century, the institution of slavery was firmly established, with slave codes and laws that degraded the status of Africans to mere property, codifying racial slavery that profoundly impacted African Americans and the economic structure of the colonies.