Rhode Island

           Rhode Island played a leading role in the transatlantic slave trade.  Rhode Islanders have slaves and they also had more slaves per capita than any other New England state. By the end of the eighteenth century they had completed at least a thousand trips from Africa to the Americas. Rhode Island In 1652, Rhode Island passed a law abolishing African slavery, similar to those governing indentured European servants, where “black mankinde” could not be indentured more than ten years. The law was evidently never enforced because the demand for cheap labor was so high and in demand. During the colonial period, Rhode Island was a direct part in the route of triangle trade.