Slaves
Historical documents indicate that enslaved Africans lived in Maryland from the beginning of settlement. The work they did in growing agricultural products, especially tobacco, formed the basis of the colonial economy. In the seventeenth century, people of African descent were a minority of the population, less than ten percent. Some, early on, were brought to Maryland via other places in the Americas, especially the Caribbean, where they had learned English, French, Portuguese, Dutch, or Spanish. By the end of the seventeenth century, the majority came from Africa. Not all black Marylanders were enslaved. Some were servants and others had managed to buy their freedom, but most people of African descent in the Chesapeake region were enslaved.
