 Life in the colony was perilous , and many died during the Starving Time in 1609 and the Anglo @-@ Powhatan Wars , including the Indian massacre of 1622 , which fostered the colonists ' negative view of all tribes . By 1624 , only 3 @,@ 400 of the 6 @,@ 000 early settlers had survived . However , European demand for tobacco fueled the arrival of more settlers and servants . The headright system tried to solve the labor shortage by providing colonists with land for each indentured servant they transported to Virginia . African workers were first imported to Jamestown in 1619 initially under the rules of indentured servitude . The shift to a system of African slavery in Virginia was propelled by the legal cases of John Punch , who was sentenced to lifetime slavery in 1640 for attempting to run away , and of John <unk> , who was claimed by Anthony Johnson as his servant for life in 1655 . Slavery first appears in Virginia statutes in 1661 and 1662 , when a law made it hereditary based on the mother 's status . 
