Why were the black Americans slaves?

Answer 1

Originally, a slave was called an "indentured servant" who would go to England, however, during the 17th century, many stopped volunteering for this kind of servitude. When whites (american, english, etc) went to Africa, Africans there volunteered their own people to become slaves. The countries at that time thought it was the norm to have slaves, and they needed the labor for their plantations.