On the table below, click or tap to identify the first colony to have a black majority population.

1. The Pennsylvania Gazette:
- Considered one of the best edited colonial newspapers, it was established in Philadelphia in 1728 and later purchased by Benjamin Franklin.

2. New-York Weekly Journal:
- Its founder, William Zenger, was arrested and tried for seditious libel after criticizing the governor.

3. Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestick:
- Established in Boston in 1690, it was shut down after a single issue for criticizing a British military alliance with the Iroquois.

What was the first colony to have a black majority?

By 1708 South Carolina became the first British North American colony to have an African American majority.
Massachusetts is the first colony to legalize slavery. The New England Confederation of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven adopts a fugitive slave law. Connecticut legalizes slavery. Rhode Island passes laws restricting slavery and forbidding enslavement for more than 10 years.

How did slaves get to the colonies?

Slave traders violently captured Africans and loaded them onto slave ships, where for months these individuals endured the “Middle Passage”—the crossing of the Atlantic from Africa to the North American colonies or West Indies. Many Africans did not survive the journey.

What factors led to distinct African American cultures in the eighteenth century?

What factors led to distinct African-American cultures in the eighteenth century? The harsh living conditions, low birth rate, and seldom contact with white people caused black culture to be distinctively different.