In 1698, Parliament lifted the monopoly slave trade conducted by the Royal African Company, permitting an influx of smaller competitors who sought out new markets, including the Chesapeake. The slave numbers surged from a mere 300 in 1650 to 13,000 by 1700, when Africans constituted 13 percent of the Chesapeake population. During the early eighteenth century, their numbers and proportion continued to grow, reaching 150,000 people and 40 percent by 1750.
