particular, Africans. And the status of slave (Europeans had African slaves
prior to the colonization of the Americas) was not one that was life-long. A
slave could become free by converting to Christianity. The first Virginia
colonists did not even think of themselves as "white" or use that word to
describe themselves. They saw themselves as Christians or Englishmen, or in
terms of their social class. They were nobility, gentry, artisans, or
servants.
One of the few recorded histories of an African in America that we can glean
from early court records is that of "Antonio the negro," as he was named in
the 1625 Virginia census. He was brought to the colony in 1621. At this
time, English and Colonial law did not define racial slavery; the census
calls him not a slave but a "servant." Later, Antonio changed his name to
Anthony Johnson, married an African American servant named Mary, and they
had four children. Mary and Anthony also became free, and he soon owned land
and cattle and even indentured servants of his own. By 1650, Anthony was
still one of only 400 Africans in the colony among nearly 19,000 settlers.
In Johnson's own county, at least 20 African men and women were free, and 13
owned their own homes.
In 1640, the year Johnson purchased his first property, three servants fled
a Virginia plantation. Caught and returned to their owner, two had their
servitude extended four years. However, the third, a black man named John
Punch, was sentenced to "serve his said master or his assigns for the time
of his natural life." He was made a slave.
Traditionally, Englishmen believed they had a right to enslave a
non-Christian or a captive taken in a just war. Africans and Indians might
fit one or both of these definitions. But what if they learned English and
converted to the Protestant church? Should they be released from bondage and
given "freedom dues?" What if, on the other hand, status were determined not
by (changeable ) religious faith but by (unchangeable) skin color?
Also, the indentured servants, especially once freed, began to pose a threat
to the property-owning elite. The colonial establishment had placed
restrictions on available lands, creating unrest among newly freed
indentured servants. In 1676, working class men burned down Jamestown,
making indentured servitude look even less attractive to Virginia leaders.
Also, servants moved on, forcing a need for costly replacements; slaves,
especially ones you could identify by skin color, could not move on and
become free competitors.
In 1641, Massachusetts became the first colony to legally recognize slavery.
Other states, such as Virginia, followed. In 1662, Virginia decided all
children born in the colony to a slave mother would be enslaved. Slavery was
not only a life-long condition; now it could be passed, like skin color,
from generation to generation.
In 1665, Anthony Johnson moved to Maryland and leased a 300-acre plantation,
where he died five years later. But back in Virginia that same year, a jury
decided the land Johnson left behind could be seized by the government
because he was a "negroe and by consequence an alien." In 1705 Virginia
declared that "All servants imported and brought in this County... who were
not Christians in their Native Country... shall be slaves. A Negro, mulatto
and Indian slaves ... shall be held to be real estate."
English suppliers responded to the increasing demand for slaves. In 1672,
England officially got into the slave trade as the King of England chartered
the Royal African Company, encouraging it to expand the British slave trade.
In 1698, the English Parliament ruled that any British subject could trade
in slaves. Over the first 50 years of the 18th century, the number of
Africans brought to British colonies on British ships rose from 5,000 to
45,000 a year. England had passed Portugal and Spain as the number one
trafficker of slaves in the world.
"All servants imported and brought into the Country. . . who were not
Christians in their native Country. . . shall be accounted and be slaves.
All Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion. . . shall be held
to be real estate. If any slave resists his master. . . correcting such
slave, and shall happen to be killed in such correction. . . the master
shall be free of all punishment. . . as if such accident never happened."
Virginia General Assembly declaration, 1705
Author: Russell, John H.
Title: "Colored Freemen as Slave Owners in Virginia."
Citation: Journal of Negro History 1 (June 1916)