ANTHONY AND MARY JOHNSON

Anthony Johnson, a native Angolan, captured in 1621, and later shipped to Jamestown, Virginia, where he became an indentured servant, is the classic tragic hero of African American history.

"Hero" in the sense that he and his wife, Mary, also presumably Angolan, shared many firsts in their new land. They were the first married couple; the first to be released from their terms of indenture; the first to purchase land, and the first to give birth to a black child born in America. They were also the first to acquire indentured servants of their own, who worked their 500 acre tobacco farm. It is here that tragedy sets in for Anthony and Mary Johnson.

Anthony Johnson sued in colonial court in Virginia in 1655 to prevent one of his indentured servant's release from his terms of indenture to Johnson. The colonial court ruled in Johnson's favor, ruling that the servant, John Casor Negro, would be Anthony Johnson's servant for life! Therefore he would not be entitled to the usual "freedom dues" that the released persons, like the Johnson's acquired upon release from indenture, consisting of land, seed, tools and money.

This ruling in 1655, literally means that a black man arguably became the first slave-owner in America. That is a gravely ironic tragedy.

In the ensuing years, Johnson had 100 acres of his land swindled out of his possession by a lying neighbor in court, who claimed Johnson was indebted to him as proven by a contrived letter that Johnson had written, though Johnson was illiterate unable to read or write. That in was 1657.

The colonial legislature in 1661 then abrogated indentured servitude altogether for Africans, making them slaves for life to drive a wedge between them and the equally abundant white indentured servants with whom they frequently ran away, married, or consorted with. Earlier in 1640, three runaways, 2 white and 1 black, upon recapture had been treated differently also. The whites had some years added to their term of indenture, but the black as punishment was made a slave for life.

So, Anthony Johnson may have used this 1640 precedent in his own case, although his servant had gone to work for a neighbor, which neighbor was required to pay Johnson's court costs. This precedent may mitigate the anomaly somewhat for Johnson, but when he died in 1670, the court gave practically all of his land to a neighbor, the court saying his being a Negro made him an alien, not entitled to land, as the monster of racism emerged full-bloom in colonial Virginia.

A tragic hero has been defined as one who does not at first understand the implications of his own words or actions. "When he asserts himself, the tragic hero is committed, sometimes unconsciously to consequent suffering." p.11, Eight Great Tragedies (1963)

Such a definition indubitably fits the life and legacy of Anthony Johnson, the earliest prototype of latter-day African Americans.

Anthony Johnson, a native Angolan, captured in 1621, and later shipped to Jamestown, Virginia, where he became an indentured servant, is the classic tragic hero of African American history.

"Hero" in the sense that he and his wife, Mary, also presumably Angolan, shared many firsts in their new land. They were the first married couple; the first to be released from their terms of indenture; the first to purchase land, and the first to give birth to a black child born in America. They were also the first to acquire indentured servants of their own, who worked their 500 acre tobacco farm. It is here that tragedy sets in for Anthony and Mary Johnson.

Anthony Johnson sued in colonial court in Virginia in 1655 to prevent one of his indentured servant's release from his terms of indenture to Johnson. The colonial court ruled in Johnson's favor, ruling that the servant, John Casor Negro, would be Anthony Johnson's servant for life! Therefore he would not be entitled to the usual "freedom dues" that the released persons, like the Johnson's acquired upon release from indenture, consisting of land, seed, tools and money.

This ruling in 1655, literally means that a black man arguably became the first slave-owner in America. That is a gravely ironic tragedy.

In the ensuing years, Johnson had 100 acres of his land swindled out of his possession by a lying neighbor in court, who claimed Johnson was indebted to him as proven by a contrived letter that Johnson had written, though Johnson was illiterate unable to read or write. That in was 1657.

The colonial legislature in 1661 then abrogated indentured servitude altogether for Africans, making them slaves for life to drive a wedge between them and the equally abundant white indentured servants with whom they frequently ran away, married, or consorted with. Earlier in 1640, three runaways, 2 white and 1 black, upon recapture had been treated differently also. The whites had some years added to their term of indenture, but the black as punishment was made a slave for life.

So, Anthony Johnson may have used this 1640 precedent in his own case, although his servant had gone to work for a neighbor, which neighbor was required to pay Johnson's court costs. This precedent may mitigate the anomaly somewhat for Johnson, but when he died in 1670, the court gave practically all of his land to a neighbor, the court saying his being a Negro made him an alien, not entitled to land, as the monster of racism emerged full-bloom in colonial Virginia.

A tragic hero has been defined as one who does not at first understand the implications of his own words or actions. "When he asserts himself, the tragic hero is committed, sometimes unconsciously to consequent suffering." p.11, Eight Great Tragedies (1963)

Such a definition indubitably fits the life and legacy of Anthony Johnson, the earliest prototype of latter-day African Americans.

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