The growth of slavery in North Carolina

Slavery has been part of North Carolina’s history since its settlement by Europeans in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Many of the first slaves in North Carolina were brought to the colony from the West Indies or other surrounding colonies, but a significant number were brought from Africa. Records were not kept of the tribes and homelands of African slaves, however, so it’s impossible to know the exact ethnic make-up of North Carolina’s slave population.