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Struggle & ResistanceAchievement & Excellence

1610s

1610–1619
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Oppression
"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.

Zoom in — years

1619
2 entries →

Key events

  1. 1619
    Named Africans at Point Comfort: Antoney, Mary, and the 1619 Arrivals

    Among the first Africans arriving in English Virginia in 1619 were individuals recorded by name: 'Antoney Negro,' 'Mary Negro,' and others. They arrived as war captives seized from the Portuguese slave ship São João Bautista by English privateers. Their initial status was ambiguous — some served as indentured servants rather than permanent slaves — a legal ambiguity that would close decisively over the following decades.

  2. August 20, 1619· debated
    "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.

Resources from this period

Videos·1

Slavery in the American Colonies — Crash Course Black American History #2
CrashCourse