Slavery has always been a controversial topic around the world and it was and horrible, but an important time back then, when it first started. slavery in america began when the first group of african slaves were brought to the north american colony of jamestown, virginia, in sixteen nineteen, to help with the production of important crops like tobacco. slavery spread throughout the american colonies and since it's hard state accurate facts, some historians have estimated that six to seven million slaves were imported to the new world during the eighteenth century alone, making the african continent lose of some of its healthiest men and women.