 Some of the wealthier families in Plymouth Colony owned black slaves which were considered the property of their owners , unlike indentured servants , and passed on to heirs like any other property . Slave ownership was not widespread and very few families possessed the wealth necessary to own slaves . In 1674 , the inventory of Capt. Thomas Willet of Marshfield includes " 8 Negroes " at a value of £ 200 . Other inventories of the time also valued slaves at £ 24 – 25 each ( equivalent to £ 2 @.@ 81 thousand in 2010 , or $ 4 @,@ 300 at PPP ) , well out of the financial ability of most families . A 1689 census of the town of Bristol shows that , of the 70 families that lived there , only one had a black slave . So few were black slaves in the colony that the General Court never saw fit to pass any laws dealing with them . 
