In 1619, a Portuguese slave ship called the So Joo Bautista traversed the Atlantic Ocean with a hull full of human cargo. This cargo consisted of captive Africans from the region of Angola, which is located in the southwestern part of Africa.
The men, women, and children, who were most likely from the kingdoms of Ndongo and Kongo, braved the dangerous trek to Mexico, where they would live as slaves for the rest of their lives.
The remaining Africans were taken to Point Comfort, a port located near Jamestown, the capital of the English colony of Virginia, which had been established 12 years earlier by the Virginia Company of London. By the time the ship was captured by two English pirate ships, nearly half of the captives had already passed away...READ FULL; FROM THE SOURCE.
According to a letter written by a colonist named John Rolfe to Sir Edwin Sandys of the Virginia Company, a “Dutch man of war” visited the colony in August 1619, but “brought nothing save 20 and odd Blacks, which the governor and cape merchant bought for victuals.” It is possible that the Africans were put to work on the tobacco fields that had just lately been developed in the area.
Since Africans and Europeans had been trading products and people across the Mediterranean for millennia, it was not unusual for Africans to be subjected to forced labor; yet, racial discrimination in the practice of enslavement was not frequent.
The trans-Atlantic slave trade, which began in the 15th century, is credited with being the impetus for the establishment of a system of slavery that was eventually monetized, racialized, and handed down through the generations.
Slaves were not even acknowledged as being human beings; rather, they were regarded as property that might be bought, sold, and used for financial gain. Despite the fact that African Americans, both free and enslaved, had arrived in North America as early as the 1500s, the sale of the “20 and odd” African people laid the groundwork for what would eventually lead to slavery in the United States. This sale laid the groundwork for what would eventually lead to slavery in the United States.
People of African descent who were sold into slavery hailed from a variety of countries and ethnic groupings across the continent. In spite of the fact that they had nothing with them when they arrived, they brought with them memories of loved ones and communities, moral ideals, intellectual curiosity, artistic ability and cultural practices, as well as religious beliefs and expertise. They made use of these recollections so that in their new surroundings, they could combine new behaviors with old ones.
