In 1640, John Punch, a Black-American indentured servant, received a sentence of lifelong slavery for running away to Maryland with two white indentured servants. Unlike Punch, the two white servants were given only an additional four years of servitude as punishment. Punch’s case served as the starting point for the establishment of race-based slavery through legal means in British North America.
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On August 20, 1619, around 20 Africans are believed to have arrived in the Jamestown settlement in Virginia, specifically at Old Point Comfort, now recognized as Fort Monroe. While the precise names of these individuals and the exact count of those who remained at Point Comfort have been lost to history, much is known about their harrowing journey.
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Originally captured by Portuguese colonial forces, these individuals were members of the native Kongo and Ndongo kingdoms. They were forcibly marched to the port of Luanda, situated in present-day Angola. Subsequently, they were loaded onto the ship San Juan Bautista, which embarked on a voyage bound for Veracruz in the New Spain colony.
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Unfortunately, like many similar voyages, approximately 150 of the 350 captives aboard the ship perished during the treacherous crossing. As the ship neared its destination, it encountered an attack by two privateer vessels, the White Lion and the Treasurer.
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And endemic bigotry still plagues our globe fellow citizen D. Elisabeth Glassco.
It will take all of us, together, to finally finish it.
ST
"Compassion.
That’s what makes us human.
And separates us from beasts."
SearingTruth
Indeed fellow citizen D. Elisabeth Glassco
I've always loved history, and in fact history and English classes were about the only things I enjoyed in school.
And the first Founding Father I really grew to admire was Thomas Jefferson. I was quite nerdy and use to have a group of friends that would discuss history, humanity, etc., and I would regularly quote him.
Then one day a friend brought in an article citing numerous outright racist letters Jefferson had written.
We were all quite shocked, and I was literally heartbroken. The one Founding Father I admired most for his compassion and eloquence was an outright racist, beyond all belief.
So that when he wrote "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ..." he meant it, but only because he believed Africans were not men, or human beings.
It was one of my first, and most cruel, lessons in the reality of life. And always to seek it.
ST
"Reality is the heaviest of burdens."
SearingTruth
Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco
SearingTruth