Talk:John Casor
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An entry from John Casor appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on January 11, 2007. |
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Talk page for Wikipedia article John Casor
[edit] Blurb for DYK
Did You Know...
that John Casor in the Virginia Colony had the dubious distinction in 1654 of becoming the first person to be declared by a court a slave, in servitude for life as chattel (owned property)?
[edit] Is the correct?
I don't see any mention of servitude for life in the courts judgement. How do we know that the court wasn't simply requiring him to serve out his remaining indenture with his original master (that is finding he had no right to change his contract and change masters)? Rmhermen 02:55, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
- That is a good observation. I am not the author of the article but the references to the article (PBS, etc.) came to this conclusion with evidence they did not present and explicitly name Johnson as the first known slaveowner because of this case involving Castor. House of Scandal 13:30, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
- The lawsuit by Johnson claimed "Johnson insisted that "hee had ye Negro for his life". The court ruled in Johnson's favor. Vaoverland 23:34, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] WAS JOHN CASOR REALLY VIRGINIA'S FIRST BLACK SLAVE?
Whether the first blacks brought to America beginning in 1619 were PREDOMINATELY slaves or indentured servants is still debated among historians, although all concede that a few early black Virginians did eventually achieve freedom one way or another. But at least some were also lifetime slaves. I lean towards believing they were primarily slaves; otherwise how did Virginians attract traders who could have sold the same blacks as slaves in the West Indies?
But the issue is clouded by short life spans in the Chesapeake through the first half of the 17th Century, often making the difference between seven years vs. lifetime servitude moot. In mid-17th Century Virginia, nearly half of all indentured servants died before finishing their terms. Furthermore, slaves sometimes achieved freedom in the 17th Century through self-purchase. In 1668, a full 29 percent of blacks in Northhampton County were free.
The entry is also probably mistaken in its claim that indentured servants automatically received 50 acres of land once free. Virginia's 50-acre headright went instead to whomever had brought over the servant or slave. Former servants only got land if their master had contractually agreed to include it as part of their freedom dues or if they could afford on their own to purchase it or a headright, for which there was an active secondary market.
Slavery began to replace indentured servitude as the primary form of labor in Virginia by the end of the 17th Century. The treatment of blacks, and their chances for freedom, concomitantly declined. Virginia's first slave code was enacted in 1680. At that date, blacks represented only 7 percent of the colonies' total population. By 1750 they were 44 percent.
Withal, John Casor, although owned by a free black, was almost certainly NOT the first slave for life in Virginia. He is probably not even the first named in legal documents. Probate records often mentioned slaves by name, and I wouldn't be surprised if some historian has uncovered the names of black slaves owned by some planter who died before 1654.
Jrhummel 03:20, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
