For most of the 17th century, indentured servants provided the labor in Maryland. Enslaved Africans became a major part of the labor force in the colony during the late 1600s. The dutch dominated the West African slave trade for much of the 17th century and Garrett Van Sweringen owned enslaved Africans before he came to Maryland. In the late 1690s, Van Sweringen had four enslaved Africans, two indentured female servants, and a servant boy. These workers cooked and served the inn's customers, cared for the large garden and livestock, did laundry, collected firewood, and repaired fences and buildings: The slaves probably also labored on the family plantation nearby.
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