Four Hundred Souls

1. The Enduring Legacy of 1619: The Birth of Black America

If the Mayflower was the advent of American freedom, then the White Lion was the advent of American slavery.

Two ships, two destinies. The arrival of the White Lion in 1619, carrying the first enslaved Africans to Jamestown, Virginia, marks the symbolic birthdate of Black America. This event stands in stark contrast to the arrival of the Mayflower, symbolizing American freedom. The story of the White Lion is a harrowing tale filled with the things that this country would rather not remember, a taint on a nation that believes above all else in its exceptionality.

Contradictions at the core. The arrival of the White Lion highlights the fundamental contradictions within the American narrative, where the ideals of liberty and equality were juxtaposed with the brutal reality of slavery. This contradiction would lead to the deadliest war in American history, fought over how much of our nation would be enslaved and how much would be free.

A story of survival. Despite the horrors of slavery, the descendants of those first Africans have woven themselves into the fabric of the nation, contributing immeasurably to its culture, economy, and identity. The true story of America begins here, in 1619. This is our story. We must not flinch.

2. African Roots: Culture, Resistance, and Identity

It is this mixture of cultures that constitutes the quintessential African presence in the British North American colony.

Cultural tapestry. Africans arrived in North America with diverse ethnic backgrounds and cultural traditions, including Yoruba, Wolof, and Mandinka. This mixture of cultures formed the foundation of the African presence in the British North American colony.

Resistance and resilience. Africans fought against political dismemberment and enslavement, maintaining their identities and values in the face of European aggression. Nzingha of Ndongo and Matamba, for example, resisted Portuguese slave traders, while others found refuge among Native Americans.

Archetypes of survival. Within the African community, distinct roles emerged, including recorders, interpreters, creators, advancers, maintainers, and memorializers of events. These archetypes, rooted in African cultures, helped the community navigate and adapt to the challenges of the new world.

3. The Exclusivity of Whiteness: Race and Power in Colonial America

Whiteness is a ledge you can only fall from.

Defining whiteness. The 1630 whipping of Hugh Davis for lying with a Black woman established the exclusivity of whiteness in American law. This act defined whiteness as something that could be polluted by contact with Blackness, setting the stage for future racist laws and attitudes.

Fear of contamination. The fear of racial mixing and the destruction of whiteness became a primary motivation for segregation and violence against Black Americans. This fear justified the segregation of cities, workplaces, and schools, consigning Black Americans to substandard conditions.

Blackness as resistance. Despite the social, political, and financial barriers, Blackness persevered and became a source of pride and resistance. Black Americans fought back against the disparagement of their culture and the hatred directed at their Blackness.

4. Tobacco and Taxes: Exploitation and Control

The truth is that King Charles can’t get enough of taxes.

The rise of tobacco. The introduction of tobacco cultivation in the colonies led to increased demand for labor and the exploitation of enslaved Africans. English colonists found ways to trade for food and plant tobacco after the last frost.

Taxation and control. King Charles's need for taxes led to the division of Virginia into shires and the counting of every body to calculate assessments. This system further entrenched the exploitation of enslaved people.

Loss of family. The need to cover taxes on tobacco led to the sale of enslaved people, tearing apart families and perpetuating the cycle of exploitation. Go-Go calls out her sister’s sacred name as she watches her pale-eyed granddaughter sold across the river to cover the tax on tobacco.

5. Black Women's Labor: Defiance and Dehumanization

Such a distortion of Black women’s physical, emotional, cultural, gendered, and spiritual selves led to the broad public’s imagining of Black women as workhorses, whores, and emasculating matriarchs.

Gendered identities assaulted. Enslavement in the Americas involved a systematic assault on gendered identities, erasing captives' humanity and traditional roles. The legal designation of Black women as fundamentally different from other women influenced their workloads and punishments.

Black women as workhorses. An image of Black womanhood emerged that equated women with market productivity, physical prowess, and promiscuity, rather than motherhood, vulnerability, or morality. This distortion led to the imagining of Black women as workhorses, whores, and emasculating matriarchs.

Enduring misrepresentation. This historical misrepresentation remains a common "justification" for the theft of Black children, physical exploitation, and broad criminalization. The endorsement by British North America’s first permanent colony’s two essential bodies of influence, the General Assembly and the Church of England, proved unshakable.

6. Anthony Johnson: From Enslavement to Land Ownership

The calf dies, but the law will always hold me. And my Eliza will have her calf.

A life of transformation. Anthony Johnson, an African man who arrived in Virginia as a captive, defied the odds to become a free landowner with indentured servants. His story exemplifies the complex and evolving nature of forced labor practices in the early American colonies.

Legal battles. Johnson's lawsuit against Robert Parker over the labor of John Casor resulted in Casor being deemed a "slave for life," highlighting the precarious status of Black people in the colonies. The court ruled in Johnson’s favor and ordered Casor to “returne unto the service of his said master Anthony Johnson,” decreeing that Robert Parker cover the costs of the court case.

Legacy of resilience. Despite facing increasing harassment and threats, Johnson and his family persevered, establishing a tight-knit community and leaving a legacy of resistance and determination. The calf dies, but the law will always hold me. And my Eliza will have her calf.

7. Family Formations: Resilience in the Face of Slavery

They remained vulnerable to being sold or given away.

Creating families. Despite the trauma of forced separation, enslaved Africans formed families through marriage, childbirth, and informal adoptions. These families remained vulnerable to being torn apart by sale or other forms of separation.

Community support. Black people often took responsibility for children who were not their own, demonstrating a sense of community and mutual support. In New Amsterdam, Emmanuel Pietersen and his wife, Dorothe Angola, raised a child of their deceased friends, and when the child reached the age of eighteen, Pietersen sought to gain legal protection for him.

Fighting for freedom. Black parents sought to use loopholes in the legal system, such as Christian baptism, to gain freedom for their children. However, these efforts were often thwarted by laws and policies designed to maintain slavery.

8. The Royal African Company: Profiting from Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is first and foremost a for-profit endeavor, a business enterprise designed to enrich its partners and shareholders.

Corporate greed. The Royal African Company (RAC) of England was the most important institution involved in the transatlantic slave trade, transporting more African people to the Americas than any other entity. The company was a business deal and a corporate monopoly designed to financially enrich the royal Stuart family.

Monopolistic practices. The RAC was granted a legal monopoly on the British slave trade, monopolizing the trade in gold, ivory, and other goods. It was authorized to declare martial law, amass troops, and wage war or make peace with any non-Christian nation.

Enduring legacy. While the RAC is long gone, its spirit of unbridled capitalism and monopolistic business schemes designed to monetize human suffering continues to this day. Mass incarceration, prison labor, and the immigration industrial complex are modern examples of this exploitation.

9. Bacon's Rebellion: A Glimpse of Multiracial Solidarity

Bacon had started his rebellion as an anti-Native crusade, but the multiracial alliance of landless freedmen, servants, and slaves who carried it on had their minds set on freedom.

A rebellion against authority. Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 saw a multiracial army of white servants and enslaved Africans rise up against the colonial government in Virginia. This event offers a glimpse of working-class solidarity across race.

Anti-Native agenda. Nathaniel Bacon's rebellion was initially driven by a desire for all-out war with neighboring Indigenous tribes, rather than a commitment to class-based solidarity. However, the rebellion evolved into a multiracial alliance of landless freedmen, servants, and slaves who sought freedom.

Reinforcing slavery. After putting down the rebellion, the governing white elite sought to reinforce slavery by restricting the movement of enslaved people, punishing interracial relationships, and offering privileges to white workers. The goal was to divide the members of the lowest class by color and lift one higher than the other.

10. The Virginia Law on Bearing Arms: Disarming Black Resistance

Gun ownership has always been a tool to secure power—racist white power.

Denying self-defense. Virginia lawmakers passed laws prohibiting enslaved Africans from bearing arms, even for self-defense. This denied enslaved people the ability to protect themselves from racist whites.

Exceptions for self-interest. Slaveholders sometimes violated these laws in their own interests, allowing enslaved people to bear arms when hunting or guarding property. However, these exceptions did not extend to Black people's right to self-defense.

Gun control and race. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has historically supported gun control measures when Black people have sought to arm themselves for self-defense. Gun ownership has always been a tool to secure power—racist white power.

11. The Code Noir: Codifying Racial Divisions

What might be reduced to anti-Black sentiment or self-hate, in those imagined words of advice to a free Black girl, accurately reflect codified law that inscribed a racial caste system within New Orleans civil society.

Regulating slavery. The Code Noir, enacted by France in 1685, was designed to regulate enslaved people in the colonies and ensure the success of the sugar plantation economy. The goal of the Code Noir was to ensure the success of the sugar plantation economy.

Restrictions on Black life. The Code imposed numerous restrictions on Black people, including limitations on marriage, travel, and economic activity. The 1685 Code Noir are still embedded in the place where the Mingos gained their freedom: New Orleans, the U.S. city that recently possessed the highest rate of incarceration.

Enduring legacy. The Code Noir helped colonial officers govern through enforcing and exploiting a society's racial divisions. The control, regulation, vigilance, and surveillance indicative of the Code Noir are still embedded in civil society.

12. The Germantown Petition: A Humanitarian Argument Against Slavery

Blacks do not need allies who fight for our inclusion; rather, we need people who are possessed of the basic belief that we are human and that any arguments that depend on rejecting that proposition are tyrannical, unjust, and to be fought.

A fundamental disagreement. The 1688 Germantown petition against slavery, written by German Quakers, represented a position that was importantly different from that of English Quakers. The German Quakers found slavery an affront to the human condition.

Humanity over inclusion. The petition affirmed that Blacks are first and foremost human beings, not salable animals for toil and labor. This humanitarian argument is different from an argument based on inclusion and exclusion.

Moral conviction. Black people need decent people possessed of the moral conviction that their lives matter, rather than allies who fight for their inclusion. We need people who are possessed of the basic belief that we are human and that any arguments that depend on rejecting that proposition are tyrannical, unjust, and to be fought.

Last updated: April 21, 2025