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Anthony Johnson and his Children
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Anthony gets Northampton land
Captain Taylor and Anthony divide their corn field. Now, as a result, Anthony owns land. This was important because it shows that Anthony now holds a place in society. As an owner of land and livestock, he has far more say in things, as far as politics go. However, at that time, the separation of blacks and whites was smaller than later on in history, so it was not quite as much of an achievment as it would have been later on. It was still an impressive feat for an ex-slave to own land. -
Anthony petitions for his slave PART 2!
skills because he had bested a white man in court, over the matter of slavery! This was no doubt a major acheivement in the history of the history of the black man in this time. -
Anthony petitions for his slave
Anthony now owns a slave. This was another large leap up in society for him, as a man who owned a slave obviously had a lot of land or a big house, so he seemed better than a man who had land but no slave. Also, it showed that not only whites could own slaves, and that blacks were equal to them in that right. A slave-owner must have had a lot of money, as slaves were not cheap, so a black man with a slave was regared higher in that way as well. Along with that, he had shown remarkable legal -
Act III Baptism no longer frees slaves
With the initiation of Act III, the rights of the slave diminished, as the holy rite of Baptism no longer freed them from slavery. Although this did not affect Anthony himself, it affected the slave community as a whole, denying them the escape route from slavery through Baptism. This was another way of the white slave-owners saying,"We're better than you, so we can deny you your religous freedoms." This also guarunteed the white slave owners more slaves (the ones that would have been freed -
Act III Baptism no longer frees slaves PART 2!
through Baptism), so they would have more slaves, and become more rich and powerful. Also, the fact that they kept their slaves would spread slavery amongst others who had the money to buy a slave but were afraid they would lose them in Baptism. -
Act I Slaves can be killed without a court case
With the passing of Act I, slaves could now be "casually killed", meaning that they could be killed without a court case. This sent the average slave spiraling further down the social ladder in the Americas, as now the murder of a slave was not even considered important enough to be brought to court. They were viewed as expendable. This gave the slave-owners more power over their slaves, as they could be threatened with death if they did not obey their commands or did not work hard enough. -
Chapter XXII Black men are property
THis was the final blow. Now a black slave was no longer a person. They were an it. They were "real-estate". They could not sink lower in society, because now they could be sold and traded like ivory or furs. This was the death-knoll to the African-American, and they would not fully regain their rights for over 250 years, until the 1960s, even though they had been emancipated in 1863.