Many changes occurred in America between the arrival of the first explorers in the 1490's and the  American Revolution in the 1770's.  America became colonized by European settlers who brought with them their own lifestyles, customs and cultures. The colony of New York had Dutch, English, and French influences. But European colonists were not the only people who made up the population of the colony.  African men and women who had been captured, brought to America, and enslaved,  also lived in the New England colonies.

Fewer than 1,000 slaves lived in the colonies of New England in the year 1700.  By the end of the 18th century, the population of enslaved Africans had reportedly reached 16,000.  When the America declared its independence in 1776, New York City had the second largest slave population in America.