[log in to unmask] wrote:
> oh, it's a good thing many of you all have your "advanced" degrees so you  
> can make fun of them.
>  
>  
> J South
>
>
>
>   
Ok. Here's what we're talking about: the Wikipedia article on Anthony 
Johnson, an early African resident of colonial Virginia, follows in its 
entirety--

Anthony Johnson (American Colonial)
 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Anthony Johnson (? - 1670) was an early black resident of the Virginia 
Colony. He was one of the original 20 Africans brought to Jamestown in 
1619 as an indentured servant. On records from Jameston, he is referred 
to as "Antonio a Negro". In 1623, he purchased his freedom and by 1651 
he was prosperous enough to import five "servants" of his own, for which 
he was granted 250 acres as "headrights".

According to the earliest known court records, slavery was first 
established in Virginia in 1654, when Johnson convinced the court in 
Northampton County that he was entitled to the lifetime services of John 
Casor, also a black man. Claiming that he had been imported as an 
indentured servant, Casor attempted to transfer what he argued was his 
remaining time of service to Robert Parker, a white, but Johnson 
insisted that "he had ye Negro for his life".

The court ruled that "seriously consideringe and maturely weighing the 
premisses, doe fynde that the saide Mr. Robert Parker most unjustly 
keepeth the said Negro from Anthony Johnson his master....It is 
therefore the Judgement of the Court and ordered That the said John 
Casor Negro forthwith returne unto the service of the said master 
Anthony Johnson, And that mr. Robert Parker make payment of all charges 
in the suit."

The unfortunate defendant in the court action, John Casor, thus became 
the first individual in the Thirteen Colonies known to be legally 
declared a slave.

[edit] Sources

    * Virginia, Guide to The Old Dominion, WPA Writers' Program, Oxford 
University Press, NY, 1940 (p. 378)

    * PBS

    * A PBS article about Johnson's Life

*************************************************************************

Notice first that the article relies on one outdated, non-scholarly book 
(the WPA guide to Virginia), plus a couple of PBS websites. No reference 
is made to any of the more recent scholarship addressing the life of 
Johnson and his significance for the early history of slavery and race 
in the colony.

Not surprisingly, there are a number of errors. The "original 20 
Africans" were actually "20. and odd" according to the only report of 
their arrival, and we have no evidence whatsoever that they were 
considered "indentured servants." This is a moot point anyway, since 
there is no evidence that this early group included Anthony Johnson. 
There is instead some indication that he arrived in the colony in 1621. 
But we do not know that Johnson "purchased his freedom" in 1623.

The emphasis of the entry thereafter is on one 1654 court case involving 
Johnson's "slave," John Casor. The details are reported accurately, but 
the author of this piece is incorrect in saying that "according to the 
earliest known court records, slavery was first established in Virginia 
in 1654" and that "John Casor thus became the first individual in the 
Thirteen Colonies known to be legally declared a slave." That statement 
should instead point to John Punch, an African runaway servant, who was 
sentenced to lifetime slavery in 1640 (and as far as we know had no 
connection to Anthony Johnson). Or this brief article should be more 
consistent with the sources we do (and don't) have and conclude that the 
legal shaping of slavery occurred over the course of several decades--it 
was not something that happened with a single county court decision.

There's a lot more that could've been said about Johnson and his family. 
What is said is riddled with errors, small and large. The innocent 
Wikipedia user will be seriously misled by this entry. There are 
problems with many entries. That real historical scholarship goes 
through various processes of peer review is a matter of great 
importance. We can waste time chipping away at the inaccuracies on sites 
like Wikipedia, or we can do something both easier and more sensible: we 
can refer people to worthwhile and much more accurate materials in print 
or online.

Doug Deal
History/SUNY Oswego