-
Anthony Johnson (Introduction)
Anthony Johnson, an freed Afrifan and his story of diminishing progress. Africans came to Virginia not to be slaves but to be indentured servants, but that all changes with diminishing progress. -
Period: to
Diminishing Progress
-
No guns for negroes
According to act 5 on page 4 this law states that all people except Negroes were allowed to bear arms. This showed that Africans lives were not valued as much as English men's lives were. This also striped Negroes of their safety or sense of security. -
Anthony Johnson owns land
Anthony Johnson, according to court case A on page 16 and document A page 19-20 after he bought his and his wife's way out of slavery he also buys land and by 1650 he and his wife, Mary Johnson owned 250 acres of land. This was somewhat unusual for Negros but, Anthony Johnson was able to not only be freed but also to own his own land. -
Anthony Johnson owns slaves
Being a Negro it was unusual for Anthony Johnson to not only own land but, to also own slaves of his own. According to court case B on page 16 he even went on trial against a white man to keep one of his slaves and won, which was very unusual for Negros. This was important because not many Negro owned slaves of their own so this was progress. -
The casual killing of slaves
Act 1 on page 7 states that if a slave happens to die while being punished for resisting his master the master will be free of all punishment as if it never happened. This started to show slaves becoming property and not people. This also gave the master much more power to punish their slaves. -
Hog stealing
According to act 6 page 12 this law states that if a slave is to be caught stealing a hog they are to be hung by their ears and have them cut off. This law was passed to warn slaves about hog stealing. This law also shows that English men have resorted to torture to keep power. -
Conclusion
Anthony Johnson was a great man and accomplished a lot in his lifetime, but he also went through a lot and stayed strong. So I challenge you to stay strong and fight for what you believe in.
