***Wow, not any slave but the FIRST slave! I always kind of thought they brought a bunch over at the same time,****
From what I have read, the first slaves were treated as “Indentured Servants” and were given their freedom after 17 years. Same for Indentured whites.
John Punch, the first documented African enslaved for life in American history, was owned by A BLACK FREEMAN who took Punch to court and had him made a PERMANENT SLAVE as a result of his attempt to escape his Indentured status.
So, the first slave in New England was owned by a black man.
Indentures were for a period of seven years and were generally a means of repaying the cost of passage. At the end of seven years, most colonies provided for a grant of land and the purchase of farming implements.
Christians could not be sold as chattel, but non-christians could. The early colonies complained that persons released from their indentures did not become productive citizens, but became indigent troublemakers. So, they tried to find a more reliable source of labor. The colonists tried to enslave Indians, but this did not work well, as the Indians could easily run away. Their problem was solved by Portuguese merchants who showed up with African slaves bound for their colonies. This institution was legal in all colonies, but only became economically significant in southern colonies where plantation agriculture was practiced. In these early days, slaves could be granted their freedom by their owners, and some became slave holders themselves. Overtime, colonies and states tended to pass laws that made manumission difficult or illegal.