Special NoteWhite Supremacist groups have claimed that Anthony Johnson, a black forced laborer who became free in 17th century Virginia, was the first legal slave owner in the British colonies that became the United States. That claim is historically false and misleading. It is important to note the following regarding Johnson’s life and the beginnings of slavery: Show
Why are White Supremacists making these claims? They are doing this for several reasons, including to promote denial of the history of chattel slavery and its impact, particularly on Black Americans. For more information, see the following articles:
IntroductionFor at least 400 years, a theory of “race” has been a lens through which many individuals, leaders, and nations have determined who belongs and who does not. The theory is based on the belief that humankind is divided into distinct “races” and that the existence of these races is proven by scientific evidence. Most biologists and geneticists today strongly disagree with this claim. Some historians who have studied the evolution of race and racism trace much of contemporary “racial thinking” to the early years of slavery in the colony of Virginia, in what is now the United States. When the first Africans were brought to Virginia in 1619, status and power in the colony depended much more heavily on one’s religion or whether one owned property than it did on skin color or any notion of race. Enslaved Africans, enslaved Native Americans, and European indentured servants labored in Virginia tobacco fields. Indentured servants agreed to work for a planter for a specific period of time in exchange for their passage to the New World, and then they often became free. The enslaved, either Native Americans or Africans forced to come to North America, were also sometimes able to gain their freedom. But this would soon change, as indentured servitude became less common and a system of slavery took hold in the English colonies in which enslavement was for life and only people of African descent were enslaved. The story of one man,
Anthony Johnson, helps illustrate the changes in Virginia society that laid the foundation for the institution of race-based slavery that thrived until the Civil War. Johnson was brought to Virginia, enslaved by an English settler, in 1622. He was able to earn his freedom, own land, and have servants of his own, but his descendants would not be permitted to do any of these things. Charles Johnson and Patricia Smith tell Johnson’s story. Part One
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Part Two
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Part Three
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CitationsHow did slavery develop in the British North American colonies?After enslaved Native American laborers began to die due to exposure to disease, European powers began purchasing enslaved Africans, who became their primary labor source. Britain sent their first slave ships to the British West Indies to work on tobacco plantations and then later sugarcane plantations.
Which of the following was true of slavery in the American colonies in the eighteenth century?Which of the following was true of slavery in the American colonies in the eighteenth century? Slaves created a sophisticated culture with extended kin relationships and traditions.
How did slavery play a role in the success of the British colonies?Slavery formed a cornerstone of the British Empire in the 18th century. Every colony had enslaved people, from the southern rice plantations in Charles Town, South Carolina, to the northern wharves of Boston. Slavery was more than a labor system; it also influenced every aspect of colonial thought and culture.
How did slavery develop in North America?Throughout the 17th century, European settlers in North America turned to enslaved Africans as a cheaper, more plentiful labor source than indentured servants, who were mostly poor Europeans.
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