1. Africans became slaves as a cheaper more plentiful labour source. In 1619 a Portuguese slave ship traveled across the Atlantic Ocean with a hull filled with human cargo: captive Americans from Angola in the southwestern Africa. The men, women and children endured the horrific journey bound for a life of enslavement in Mexico. In the 15th century the Roman Catholic Church divided the world in half granting Portugal a monopoly on trade in west Africa and Spain the right to colonise the new world.
2. Throughout the 17th century European settlers in North America turned to enslaved Africans as again cheaper more plentiful labour source than indentured servants. In 17th and 18th century enslaved Africans worked mainly on the tobacco rice and indigo plantations.
3. Although the largest percentage of slaves were found in the south, slavery did exist in the middle and northern colonies. Less than 4% of all African slaves were sent to North America. The vast majority of enslaved people ended up in sugar producing regions of Brazil and West Indies as they had the most resources which the world needed and some colonies had larger plantations.