"20 and odd" Africans arrive at Point Comfort

An English privateer trades roughly two dozen captive Angolans to Virginia colonists at Old Point Comfort — a foundational moment whose exact legal status (enslaved vs. indentured) historians still debate.

Historians debate aspects of this entry. See the methodology for how contested history is handled.

Chattel Slavery

Resources

Books·1

Book· 2019

The 1619 Project

Nikole Hannah-Jones, ed.

Reframing US history around the consequences of slavery.

Research·1

Research· Primary

Virginia's First Africans (1619 report)

City of Hampton, VA

Research on the White Lion's arrival at Point Comfort and the first recorded Africans.

Articles·1

Article· 2019

Virginia's First Africans

Encyclopedia Virginia

Scholarship on the 1619 Point Comfort landing and its contested history.

Websites·1

Website· Primary

NPS — 1619 and the 400 Years of African American History Commission

National Park Service

How the federal government frames the 1619 Point Comfort arrival.