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Massachusetts State Seal
Commonwealth Museum   Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin
Commonwealth Museum Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin

New World Tragedy

Because slavery was accepted in the Bible most Puritans did not see the institution as immoral.

Zanzibar Slave Market Memorial near the site of African slave auctions, created by Brocken Inaglory
This Zanzibar memorial is near the site of African slave auctions.
- Brocken Inaglory

Establishment of Slavery
Massachusetts was the first English colony to legalize slavery. In 1638 the ship Desire landed in Boston bringing enslaved Africans from Caribbean plantations. They were exchanged for Pequot men and boys captured in war. Many Indians sold into slavery died of disease in the Caribbean.
A photo of a Bill of Lading for a Massachusetts ship delivering horses to Barbados.
Bill of Lading for a Massachusetts ship delivering horses to Barbados. Other deliveries included fish, beef, candles, hoops, and nails.
- Massachusetts Archives

Slavery and the Massachusetts Economy
 The Royal Africa Company had a monopoly on the trans-Atlantic slave trade in much of the seventeenth century. Massachusetts was not a major participant at that time (although some ship owners engaged in smuggling). In the Caribbean sugar planters maximized profits by planting mostly sugar cane and importing food and other products from mainland colonies. Islands like Barbados became important to the Massachusetts economy. On return trips some enslaved Africans were brought to Massachusetts for sale.

A photo of an old map of barbados. The map has illustrations on it to include a detail of two slaves running from a mounted man who is shooting at them.
Seventeenth century map of Barbados.

The detail depicts enslaved Africans attempting to escape an armed and mounted overseer.

- British Library

Cotton Mather on Slavery
 Prominent minister Cotton Mather noted that Europeans were a minority of the world’s population. “God…is not moved by the colour of the Skin; is not more propitious to one Colour than another.” He also respected the ability and intelligence of Africans. However he argued that religious instruction would make Africans better “servants” because they would understand that it is God’s plan for them.

A drawn portrait of Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather
- Peter Pelham, National Portrait Gallery

Slavery was not abolished in Massachusetts until after the American Revolution.

A painting of Samuel Sewall
Samuel Sewall 
- John Smibert

“The Selling of Joseph”
 Samuel Sewall was a judge in the Salem witch trials and the only one to admit that he was wrong. His life illustrates the moralistic strain in Puritan culture and the fact that injustice can lead to reform. After the Salem trials he wrote “The Selling of Joseph,” the first anti-slavery tract, and advocated fair treatment of Native people. (He theorized that they might be the lost tribes of Israel.) In his diary Sewall wrote about the education of women.

Onesimus
An African man, Onesimus, enslaved in the home of Cotton Mather, told of the African practice of inoculation to protect against disease. The method was eventually introduced in Boston and was effective against small pox. Several prominent families held enslaved Indians and Africans as servants.