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Introduction
History books tend to have slavery wrong. At one point there was fairness between Africans and Englishmen, but the law maker’s brutality ripped that sense from their lives. This timeline shows how Anthony Johnson went from being a free former slave who won court cases against white men to having 250 acers of his land taken away. -
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Diminishing Progress Represntation
THis is a representation of how diminishing progress of the life of Anthony Johnson. -
Anthony Johnson owns 250 acres, cattle, and servants.
Anthony Johnson was a free man living in Jamestown. He owned 250 acers of land, some cattle, and had two servants. At the time, the racial boundaries were not as strict as they later were. This was important to diminishing progress because he had "carved a niche for himself" (Document A page 19). He had entered a group of farmers and planters who were looking to have economic security. -
Anthony Johnson petitions and wins rights to a slave against a white man.
Anthony Johnson had been persuaded by his son in law, wife, and sons to set his slave, John Cesar, free. He decided he wanted him back and went to court over it against Robert Parker (a white man). This was so important because it was rare for an African to win a court case, let alone one against a white man. This was an incredible accomplishment because there was racial discrimination at the time. Africans were starting to become slaves, and an African had just retained one. -
Casual Killing Act
This act said that Africans could be hurt badly or killed if they were being punished, and there would not be charges pressed on the master. The act states that charges won't be pressed because no one would hurt their property. It bumped the African's status down to property.
This is so important because they have had a huge status change and are now able to be hurt or even killed. This took them down to a level equivalent to that of estate. -
Hogstealing Act
This act stated that if any slave were to take a hog, he would get thirty nine lashes on his back. If the said slave were to commit the treason of hog stealing again, he would have to stand for two hours in the pillory while his ears were nailed to it. At the end of the two hours, his ears would be cut of near the nails. Not only was this act incredibly brutal, it could also kill. This act also turned society against them. By punishing the slaves publically it took the human out of it. -
Hog Stealing Act Continued
They were no longer punishing a person in their minds, they were punishing a thing.
This was crazy because slaves were no longer seen as people. They were seen as things that should be punished for taking food. They were seen as things that couldn’t be defended and need to be punished highly for even the smallest offense. -
Slaves Becomes Legal Property
This act officially called slaves property. It made them become real estate by law. Not only can slaves now be treated as property, they are now considered it too,
This is important to diminishing progress because they are no longer considered human at this point. They are officially property and it will take 150 of years to reverse this and many more to make them equal. -
Conclusion
Throughout Anthony’s life, Africans went from being free, to being legal property. They underwent the process of dehumanization. The effects of this process last for a very long time. Even now people are discrimated against as an effect of what happened hundreds of years ago. There are still people being dehumanized today! We don't need this to happen again. Will you realize now or will you realize when its too late?
