Slavery and indentured servitude had been a part of the New World since the 1500's. To insure that the land would be profitable, curious and adventurous Europeans realized that cheap labor would be needed. That cheap labor came in the form of slavers and indentured servants.
1793 was an important year for slavery for two reasons. One was that by this time slavery had become a racial issue. Slaves (people of color) were viewed as property and had to comply with the owner's wishes; that was the law. And the second reason centered on the invention of the cotton gin. The cotton gin allowed the plantation owners of the South and opportunity to widen their fields of cotton, thus creating the need for more slave labor. Just a few short years later the �tide� changed. By 1808, America banned their ships from taking part in slave trade. The importation of slaves was now illegal in America.
