ized . ▁S la ves ▁could ▁test ify ▁in ▁court , ▁sign ▁legal ▁documents , ▁and ▁bring ▁civil ▁actions ▁against ▁whites . ▁Some ▁were ▁permitted ▁to ▁work ▁after ▁hours ▁ear ning ▁w ages ▁equal ▁to ▁those ▁paid ▁to ▁white ▁workers . ▁When ▁the ▁col ony ▁fell ▁to ▁the ▁English ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 6 6 0 s , ▁the ▁company ▁fre ed ▁all ▁its ▁slaves , ▁which ▁created ▁an ▁early ▁nucle us ▁of ▁free ▁Neg ros ▁in ▁the ▁area . ▁ ▁The ▁English ▁continued ▁to ▁import ▁more ▁slaves . ▁Ens la ved ▁Afr icans ▁performed ▁a ▁wide ▁variety ▁of ▁sk illed ▁and ▁un sk illed ▁jobs , ▁mostly ▁in ▁the ▁bur geon ing ▁port ▁city ▁and ▁surrounding ▁agricult ural ▁areas . ▁In ▁ 1 7 0 3 ▁more ▁than ▁ 4 2 % ▁of ▁New ▁York ▁City ' s ▁households ▁held ▁slaves , ▁a ▁percentage ▁higher ▁than ▁in ▁the ▁cities ▁of ▁Boston ▁and ▁Philadelphia , ▁and ▁second ▁only ▁to ▁Char l eston ▁in ▁the ▁South . ▁ ▁Mid west , ▁Mississippi ▁River , ▁and ▁Louisiana ▁ ▁The ▁French ▁introduced ▁legal ized ▁sla very ▁into ▁their ▁colon ies ▁in ▁New ▁France ▁both ▁near ▁the ▁Great ▁L akes ▁and ▁the ▁Mississippi ▁River . ▁( They ▁also ▁used ▁slave ▁labor ▁on ▁their ▁island ▁colon ies ▁in ▁the ▁Car ib bean : ▁Gu adel oupe ▁and ▁especially ▁Saint - Dom ing ue .) ▁After ▁the ▁port ▁of ▁New ▁Orleans ▁was ▁founded ▁in ▁ 1 7 1 8 ▁with ▁access ▁to ▁the ▁G ulf ▁Coast , ▁French ▁colon