-
Period: to
Lives of Anthony Johnson and sons
-
Introduction
Anthony Johnson was captured from Angola and brought to colonial Virginia. He arrived and became an indentured servant. After 20 years he was able to exempt from bondage. Once a free African he married a women named Mary and bought her freedom. He later won two court cases against Englishmen to make an indentured servant a slave. This will explain how Englishmen slowly diminished all of his progress. -
Anthony Johnson Aquires Land
Anthony Johnson acquires land. This is importantant because this shows that Anthony isn't a slave for life and that he can care for himself and his family. It also shows that he can work when he wants and can play when he wants, unlike slaves. -
Anthony Johnson Wins Court Case Over An Englishman
Anthony Johnson wins a court case over an Englishman. He won a slave who thought he was an indentured servant. This is important because it shows how he went from being at the bottom of the social status to beating someone at the top. -
Baptism Does Not Exempt From Bondage
Baptism does not exempt from bondage. This means that even if slaves were baptized they couldn't become free after 20 years anymore. Slaves ended up tring to run away because it was the only way they could become free. This led to the law casual killings. -
Casual Killings
There was a new law called casual killings. This meant that if a slave owner was punishing a slave, and the slave was ''accidentally'' killed then the slave owner wouldn't be charged fo murder. The Englishmen were tring to gain power by putting fear into the slaves. This law was created after the law of baptism couldn't exempt from bondage. -
Africans Nor Indians Can Buy Christian Slaves
Africans nor Indians can buy Christian Slaves.This affected Anthony Johnson in many ways. The first reason was that there were very few slaves that weren't Christians. So he wouldn't be able to have many workers. And if he didn't have many workers he wouldn't be able to make much food or buy any food. Therefore it was an enourmous setback. -
Conclusion
Anthony Johnson made plenty of progress as a free African. The Englishmen diminished almost all of his progress. They did this by slowly sending a passage of laws that gradually took his rights right out of his hands. The Africans had no time to react once they found out what was happening. Are there laws now that are doing the same to a group of people...slowly diminishing their progress?
