Built from Bondage: Slavery and the Colonisation of New England, 1620-1700 - a talk by Jared Hardesty

Renowned historian Jared Hardesty launches our illuminating 2023 six-part series, Enslavement & Resistance: New England 1620-1760, as he explores the importance of slavery in the colonization of New England, with the experiences of enslaved African and Indigenous people at its center. Sign up here. 

For the Puritans, slavery was a routine - and essential - part of colonizing the Americas and one they looked to adopt in Massachusetts. Enslaved Africans were present in the region from the earliest days of colonization and, from the first decade of the colony, Puritans enslaved local Indigenous people. Jared Hardesty uses primary documents to explore the trajectory of enslavement, the building of New England's power and wealth, and the experience of enslaved people themselves.