Can anyone trace slavery from 1607 (Jamestown) to the presidential election of 1800?
The first Africans brought to Jamestown were treated as indentured servants and freed after seven years. Some of them became indentured for an additional seven years to earn land of their own. A few of those actually bought newly arrived Africans. After all, they spoke the language and could use them more effectively. The first true slave was actually owned by a freed African. He had run away so many times and caused so much trouble for his “owner” that a judge ruled he had to be a lifelong slave. They dropped the indenture system soon after that and went to straight slavery.
