Slavery in America can be traced as far back as when Europeans began settling the North American continent. The first town established in the New Worlrd was Jamestown in 1607, and the first slave arrived on the continent in 1619. European pioneers that colonized North America brought slaves with them to help settle the new land, work their plantations growing valuable cash crops such as tobacco and sugar, and to cook and clean in their homes. Most people didn’t see slavery as a problem at this time because it was quite rare in the New World with only a few wealthy landowners who owned slaves, however, public opinion would be swayed. Abolitionists fir