fill ing ▁a ▁work ▁contract ▁or ▁for ▁converting ▁to ▁Christian ity . ▁ ▁At ▁least ▁one ▁of ▁these , ▁Anthony ▁Johnson , ▁in ▁turn , ▁acquired ▁slaves ▁or ▁indent ured ▁servants ▁for ▁workers ▁himself . ▁Histor ians ▁such ▁as ▁Edmund ▁Morgan ▁say ▁this ▁evidence ▁suggests ▁that ▁ra cial ▁att itudes ▁were ▁much ▁more ▁flexible ▁in ▁early ▁ 1 7 th - century ▁Virginia ▁than ▁they ▁would ▁later ▁become . ▁A ▁ 1 6 2 5 ▁census ▁recorded ▁ 2 3 ▁Afr icans ▁in ▁Virginia . ▁In ▁ 1 6 4 9 ▁there ▁were ▁ 3 0 0 , ▁and ▁in ▁ 1 6 9 0 ▁there ▁were ▁ 9 5 0 . ▁ ▁Over ▁this ▁period , ▁legal ▁dist in ctions ▁between ▁white ▁indent ured ▁servants ▁and ▁" N eg ros " ▁w iden ed ▁into ▁lif el ong ▁and ▁inher itable ▁ch att el - s la very ▁for ▁Afr icans . ▁ ▁Carol inas ▁ ▁Until ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 8 th ▁century , ▁ens la ved ▁Afr icans ▁were ▁difficult ▁to ▁ac quire ▁in ▁the ▁colon ies ▁that ▁became ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁as ▁most ▁were ▁sold ▁to ▁the ▁West ▁Ind ies , ▁where ▁the ▁large ▁plant ations ▁and ▁high ▁mort ality ▁rates ▁required ▁continued ▁import ation ▁of ▁slaves . ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁first ▁major ▁cent ers ▁of ▁African ▁sla very ▁in ▁the ▁English ▁North ▁American ▁colon ies ▁occurred ▁with ▁the ▁found ing ▁of ▁Charles ▁Town ▁and ▁the ▁Province ▁of ▁Carolina ▁in ▁ 1 6 7 0 . ▁The ▁col