during most of the british colonial period, slavery existed in all the colonies. slaves in the north usually worked as house servants, artisans, laborers, and craftsmen. most were in cities. many men worked on the docks and in shipping. in 1703, more than 42 percent of new york city households had slaves. new york city had the second-highest proportion of slaves of any city in the colonies after charleston, south carolina. slaves were also used as agricultural workers in farming communities. this included areas of upstate new york and long island, connecticut, and new jersey. by 1770 there were 397,924 blacks in a population of 2,170 million. they were not spread out evenly. there were 14,867 in new england where they were 2.7% of the population; 34,679 in the mid-atlantic colonies where they were 6% of the population (19,000 were in new york or 11%); and 347,378 in the five southern colonies where they were 31% of the population.