England Seizes New Amsterdam; Slavery Expands Under British Rule (1664)

When England seized New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664 and renamed it New York, the existing enslaved African population came under English colonial rule. The British systematically expanded the slave trade to the colony and tightened slave codes. The Dutch system of half-freedom was eliminated over time, and enslaved people who had held conditional freedom under the Dutch lost those protections. New York became an increasingly significant slave society, with enslaved Africans comprising roughly 15–20% of the population in New York City by the early 18th century.