Anthony Johnson (colonist): Difference between revisions

Anthony Johnson
Anthony Johnson
Born	c. 1600; Portuguese Angola
Died	1670 (aged 69–70); Colony of Virginia
Other names	António or Antonio
Occupation	Farmer
Known for	An African man indentured in Maryland who amassed sizable landholding and had indentured servants and enslaved people in the 1600s.
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Anthony Johnson (c. 1600 – 1670) was an Angolan-born man who achieved wealth in the early 17th-century Colony of Virginia. Held as an indentured servant in 1621, he earned his freedom after several years and was granted land by the colony.^[1]

He later became a tobacco farmer in Maryland. He attained great wealth after completing his term as an indentured servant and has been referred to as "'the black patriarch' of the first community of Negro property owners in America".^[1]

Biography

Early life

In the early 1620s, African slave traders kidnapped the man who would later be known as Anthony Johnson in Portuguese Angola and sold him to Portuguese slavers, who named him António and sold him into the Atlantic slave trade. A colonist in Virginia bought António. As an indentured servant, António worked for a merchant at the Virginia Company.^[2] He was also received into the Roman Catholic Church.^[3]

He sailed to Virginia in 1621 aboard the James. The Virginia Muster (census) of 1624 lists his name as "Antonio not given," recorded as "a Negro" in the "notes" column.^[4] Historians dispute whether this was the same António later known as Anthony Johnson, as the census lists several men named "Antonio". This one is considered the most likely.^[5]

Johnson was sold as an indentured servant to a white planter named Bennet to work on his Virginia tobacco farm. (Slave laws were not passed until 1661 in Virginia; before that date, Africans were not officially considered to be enslaved).^[6]

Such workers typically worked under a limited indenture contract for four to seven years to pay off their passage, room, board, lodging, and freedom dues. In the early colonial years, most Africans in the Thirteen Colonies were held under such contracts of limited indentured servitude. Except for those indentured for life, they were released after a contracted period. Those who managed to survive their period of indenture would receive land and equipment after their contracts expired or were bought out.^[7] Most white laborers in this period also came to the colony as indentured servants.^{[citation needed]}

António almost died in the Indian massacre of 1622 when Bennet's plantation was attacked. The Powhatan, who were the indigenous people dominant at that time in the Tidewater region of Virginia, were attempting to evict the colonists. They raided the settlement where Johnson worked on Good Friday and killed 52 of the 57 men present.^{[citation needed]}

In 1623, a Black woman named Mary arrived aboard the ship Margaret. She was brought to work on the same plantation as António, where she was the only woman present. António and Mary married and lived together for more than forty years.^[8]

Conclusion of indentured servitude

Sometime after 1635, António and Mary concluded the terms of their indentured servitude. António changed his name to Anthony Johnson.^[8] He first entered the legal record as an unindentured man when he purchased a calf in 1647.^[9]

The colonial government granted Johnson a large plot of farmland after he paid off his indentured contract by his labor.^[10] On July 24, 1651, he acquired 250 acres (100 ha) of land under the headright system by buying the contracts of five indentured servants, one of whom was his son, Richard Johnson. The headright system worked so that if a man were to bring indentured servants over to the colonies (in this particular case, Johnson brought the five servants), he was owed 50 acres a "head", or servant.^[11] The land was located on the Great Naswattock Creek, which flowed into the Pungoteague River in Northampton County, Virginia.^[12]

Johnson ran a tobacco farm using indentured servants. One of those servants, John Casor, would later become one of the first African men to be declared indentured for life.^[13]

In 1652, "an unfortunate fire" caused "great losses" for the family, and Johnson applied to the courts for tax relief. The court reduced the family's taxes and, on February 28, 1652, exempted his wife Mary and their two daughters from paying taxes "during their natural lives." At that time, taxes were levied on people, not property. Under the 1645 Virginia taxation act, "all negro men and women and all other men from the age of 16 to 60 shall be judged tithable."^[12]^[14] It is unclear from the records why the Johnson women were exempted, but the change gave them the same social standing as white women, who were not taxed.^[14] During the case, the justices noted that Anthony and Mary "have lived Inhabitants in Virginia (above thirty years)" and had been respected for their "hard labor and known service".^[8]

By the 1650s, Anthony and Mary Johnson were farming 250 acres in Northampton County, while their two sons owned 550 acres.^[15]^[16]

Casor lawsuit

When Anthony Johnson was released from his servitude, he was legally recognized as a "free Negro." He became a successful farmer. In 1651, he owned 250 acres (100 ha) and the services of five indentured servants (four white and one black). In 1653, John Casor, a black indentured servant whose contract Johnson appeared to have bought in the early 1640s, approached Captain Goldsmith, claiming his indenture had expired seven years earlier and that he was being held illegally by Johnson. A neighbor, Robert Parker, intervened and persuaded Johnson to free Casor.

Parker offered Casor work, and he signed a term of indenture to the planter. Johnson filed a Freedom suit against Parker in the Northampton Court in 1654 for the return of Casor. The court initially found in favor of Parker, but Johnson appealed. In 1655, the court reversed its ruling.^[17] Finding that Anthony Johnson still "owned" John Casor, the court ordered that he be returned with the court dues paid by Robert Parker.^[18]

This was the first instance of a judicial determination in the Thirteen Colonies holding that a person who had committed no crime could be held in servitude for life.^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22]^[23]

Though Casor was the first person who was declared an enslaved person in a civil case, there were both black and white indentured servants sentenced to lifetime servitude before him. Many historians describe indentured servant John Punch as the first documented slave (or slave for life) in America as punishment for escaping his captors in 1640. It is considered one of the first legal cases to make a racial distinction between black and white indentured servants.^[24]^[25]

Significance of Casor lawsuit

The Casor lawsuit demonstrates the culture and mentality of planters in the mid-17th century. Individuals made assumptions about the society of Northampton County and their place in it. According to historians T.H. Brean and Stephen Innes, Casor believed he could form a stronger relationship with his patron, Robert Parker, than Anthony Johnson had developed over the years with his patrons. Casor considered the dispute to be a matter of patron-client relationship, and this wrongful assumption resulted in his losing his case in court and having the ruling against him. Johnson knew that the local justices shared his fundamental belief in the sanctity of property. The judge sided with Johnson, although in future legal issues, race played a more prominent role.^[26]

The Casor lawsuit was an example of how difficult it was for Africans who were indentured servants to prevent being reduced to slavery. Most Africans could not read and had almost no knowledge of the English language. Planters found it easy to force them into slavery by refusing to acknowledge the completion of their indentured contracts.^[1] This is what happened in Johnson v. Parker. Although two white planters confirmed that Casor had completed his indentured contract with Johnson, the court still ruled in Johnson's favor.^[27]

Later life

In 1657, Johnson's neighbor, Edmund Scarborough, allegedly forged a letter in which Johnson acknowledged a debt; whether this debt was real or not is unknown. Johnson did not contest the case. Johnson was illiterate and could not have written the letter; nevertheless, the court awarded Scarborough 100 acres (40 ha) of Johnson's land to pay off his alleged "debt".^[10]

In this early period, free blacks enjoyed "relative equality" with the white community. About 20% of free black Virginians owned their own homes. In 1662, the Virginia Colony passed a law that children in the colony were born with the social status of their mother, according to the Roman principle of partus sequitur ventrem. This meant that the children of slave women were born into slavery, even if their fathers were free, European, Christian, and white. This was a reversal of English common law, which held that the children of English subjects took the status of their father. The Virginian colonial government expressed the opinion that since Africans were not Christians, common law could not and did not apply to them.^[28]

Anthony Johnson moved his family to Somerset County, Maryland, where he negotiated a lease on a 300-acre (120 ha) plot of land for ninety-nine years. He developed the property as a tobacco farm, which he named Tories Vineyards.^[29] Mary survived, and in 1672, she bequeathed a cow to each of her grandsons.

Research indicates that when Johnson died in 1670, his plantation was given to a white colonist, not to Johnson's children. A judge had ruled that he was "not a citizen of the colony" because he was black. ^[13] In 1677, Anthony and Mary's grandson, John Jr., purchased a 44-acre (18-hectare) farm, which he named Angola. John Jr. died without leaving an heir, however. By 1730, the Johnson family had vanished from historical significance.^[30] Genealogical research suggests that some of Anthony's other descendants moved to Delaware and then to North Carolina.^[31]^[32]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Foner, Philip S. (1980). History of Black Americans: From Africa to the Emergence of the Cotton Kingdom. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2013-10-14.
^ Horton (2002), p. 29.
^ Pender, Alicia (2021-03-13). "Catholics who care about US Black history must read 'Four Hundred Souls'". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
^ Breen 1980, p. 8.
^ Walsh, Lorena (2010). Motives of Honor, Pleasure, and Profit: Plantation Management in the Colonial Chesapeake, 1607–1763. UNC Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0807832349.
^ Indentured Servants In The U.S., pbs.org. Accessed March 9, 2023.
^ Horton (2002), p. 26
^ ^a ^b ^c Breen (1980), p. 10.
^ D.P.A, Archie Morris III (2019). Up from Slavery; an Unfinished Journey: The Legacy of Dunbar High School. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1728304212.
^ ^a ^b Rodriguez, Junius (2007). Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 2. ABC-CLIO. p. 353. ISBN 978-1851095445.
^ "'Black and white' in Colonial Virginia". link.galegroup.com. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
^ ^a ^b Heinegg, Paul (2005). Free Africans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina from the Colonial Period to about 1820, Volume 2. Genealogical Publishing. p. 705. ISBN 978-0806352824.
^ ^a ^b Magazine, Smithsonian. "The Horrible Fate of John Casor, The First Black Man to be Declared Slave for Life in The Colonies". Smithsonian Magazine.
^ ^a ^b Breen, T. H. (2004). "Myne Owne Ground" : Race and Freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore, 1640–1676. Oxford University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0199729050.
^ Virginia's First Africans, encyclopediavirginia.org. Accessed March 9, 2023.
^ Lombard, Anne; Middleton, Richard (2011). Colonial America: A History to 1763. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1444396287.
^ Walker, Juliet (2009). The History of Black Business in America: Capitalism, Race, Entrepreneurship, Volume 1. University of North Carolina Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0807832417.
^ Frank W. Sweet (2005). Legal History of the Color Line: The Rise and Triumph of the One-Drop Rule. Backintyme. p. 117. ISBN 978-0939479238. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
^ Federal Writers' Project (1954). Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion. US History Publishers. p. 76. ISBN 978-1603540452.
^ Danver, Steven (2010). Popular Controversies in World History. ABC-CLIO. p. 322. ISBN 978-1598840780.
^ Kozlowski, Darrell (2010). Colonialism: Key Concepts in American History. Infobase Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 978-1604132175.
^ Conway, John (2008). A Look at the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments: Slavery Abolished, Equal Protection Established. Enslow Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 978-1598450705.
^ Toppin, Edgar (2010). The Black American in United States History. Allyn & Bacon. p. 46. ISBN 978-1475961720.
^ Slavery and Indentured Servants Law Library of Congress
^ "Slave Laws". Virtual Jamestown. Retrieved 2013-11-04.
^ Breen and Innes, "Myne Owne Ground," p. 15
^ Klein, 43–44.
^ Taunya Lovell Banks, "Dangerous Woman: Elizabeth Key's Freedom Suit – Subjecthood and Racialized Identity in Seventeenth Century Colonial Virginia", Digital Commons Law, University of Maryland Law School. Retrieved April 21, 2009.
^ Johnson (1999), Africans in America, p. 44.
^ "Johnson, Anthony – 1670", Black Past.org
^ "The impossible story of an African pioneer in colonial America". 19 August 2019.
^ "Jeffery-Johnson".

Sources

Berlin, Ira. Many Thousands Gone, The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America, Harvard University Press, 1998.
Breen, Timothy and Stephen Innes. "Myne Own Ground" Race and Freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore, 1979/reprint 2004, 25th-anniversary edition: Oxford University Press
Cox, Ryan Charles. Delmarva Settlers Settlers and Sites - "The Johnson Family: The Migratory Study of an African-American Family on the Eastern Shore", Delmarva Settlers], University of Maryland Salisbury, accessed 16 November 2012.
Horton, James Oliver and Lois E. Horton, Hard Road to Freedom: The Story of African America, Rutgers University Press, 2002.
Johnson, Charles; Patricia Smith, and the WGBH Research Team, Africans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1999.
Klein, Herbert S. Slavery in the Americas; A Comparative Study of Virginia and Cuba.^{[ISBN missing]}
Nash, Gary B., Julie R. Jeffrey, John R. Howe, Peter J. Frederick, Allen F. Davis, and Allan M. Winkler. The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society. 6th ed. New York: Pearson, 2004. 74–75.^{[ISBN missing]}
Matthews, Harry Bradshaw, The Family Legacy of Anthony Johnson: From Jamestown, VA to Somerset, MD, 1619–1995, Oneonta, NY: Sondhi Loimthongkul Center for Interdependence, Hartwick College, 1995.^{[ISBN missing]}
Russell, Jack Henderson. The Free Negro in Virginia, 1619–1865, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1913
WPA Writers' Program, Virginia, Guide to The Old Dominion, Oxford University Press, NY, 1940 (p. 378)
"Anthony Johnson", Thinkport Library

External links

"Anthony Johnson", Africans in America, PBS.org
"Anthony Johnson", Exploring Maryland's Roots
Johnson Family, "The Blurred Racial Lines Famous Families" Frontline PBS
Site of 17th Century Estate of Anthony and Mary Johnson
Johnson Family Genealogy Report
Anthony Johnson (?–1670), BlackPast
Fact CheckF: 9 'Facts' About Slavery They Don't Want You to Know
Court Ruling on Anthony Johnson and His Servant (1655)

[Foner_1980-1] Foner, Philip S. (1980). History of Black Americans: From Africa to the Emergence of the Cotton Kingdom. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2013-10-14.

[2] Horton (2002), p. 29.

[3] Pender, Alicia (2021-03-13). "Catholics who care about US Black history must read 'Four Hundred Souls'". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 2021-03-13.

[4] Breen 1980, p. 8.

[Walsh-5] Walsh, Lorena (2010). Motives of Honor, Pleasure, and Profit: Plantation Management in the Colonial Chesapeake, 1607–1763. UNC Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0807832349.

[6] Indentured Servants In The U.S., pbs.org. Accessed March 9, 2023.

[7] Horton (2002), p. 26

[Breen10-8] Breen (1980), p. 10.

[9] D.P.A, Archie Morris III (2019). Up from Slavery; an Unfinished Journey: The Legacy of Dunbar High School. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1728304212.

[Rodriguez-10] Rodriguez, Junius (2007). Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 2. ABC-CLIO. p. 353. ISBN 978-1851095445.

[11] "'Black and white' in Colonial Virginia". link.galegroup.com. Retrieved 2019-12-11.

[Heinegg-12] Heinegg, Paul (2005). Free Africans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina from the Colonial Period to about 1820, Volume 2. Genealogical Publishing. p. 705. ISBN 978-0806352824.

[auto-13] Magazine, Smithsonian. "The Horrible Fate of John Casor, The First Black Man to be Declared Slave for Life in The Colonies". Smithsonian Magazine.

[Breen-14] Breen, T. H. (2004). "Myne Owne Ground" : Race and Freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore, 1640–1676. Oxford University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0199729050.

[15] Virginia's First Africans, encyclopediavirginia.org. Accessed March 9, 2023.

[16] Lombard, Anne; Middleton, Richard (2011). Colonial America: A History to 1763. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1444396287.

[Walker-17] Walker, Juliet (2009). The History of Black Business in America: Capitalism, Race, Entrepreneurship, Volume 1. University of North Carolina Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0807832417.

[Sweet2005-18] Frank W. Sweet (2005). Legal History of the Color Line: The Rise and Triumph of the One-Drop Rule. Backintyme. p. 117. ISBN 978-0939479238. Retrieved 23 February 2013.

[Project-19] Federal Writers' Project (1954). Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion. US History Publishers. p. 76. ISBN 978-1603540452.

[Danver-20] Danver, Steven (2010). Popular Controversies in World History. ABC-CLIO. p. 322. ISBN 978-1598840780.

[Kozlowski-21] Kozlowski, Darrell (2010). Colonialism: Key Concepts in American History. Infobase Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 978-1604132175.

[Conway-22] Conway, John (2008). A Look at the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments: Slavery Abolished, Equal Protection Established. Enslow Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 978-1598450705.

[Toppin-23] Toppin, Edgar (2010). The Black American in United States History. Allyn & Bacon. p. 46. ISBN 978-1475961720.

[LLC-24] Slavery and Indentured Servants Law Library of Congress

[25] "Slave Laws". Virtual Jamestown. Retrieved 2013-11-04.

[26] Breen and Innes, "Myne Owne Ground," p. 15

[27] Klein, 43–44.

[Banks-28] Taunya Lovell Banks, "Dangerous Woman: Elizabeth Key's Freedom Suit – Subjecthood and Racialized Identity in Seventeenth Century Colonial Virginia", Digital Commons Law, University of Maryland Law School. Retrieved April 21, 2009.

[29] Johnson (1999), Africans in America, p. 44.

[30] "Johnson, Anthony – 1670", Black Past.org

[31] "The impossible story of an African pioneer in colonial America". 19 August 2019.

[32] "Jeffery-Johnson".

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|Indentured servant, farmer, enslaver (1600–1670)}}
 {{other people|Anthony Johnson}}
 {{Infobox person
-| name        = Anthony Johnson
+| name               = Anthony Johnson
-| image       =
+| image              =
-| alt         =
+| alt                =
-| caption     = Anthony Johnson c. 1650.
+| caption            =
-| birth_name  =
+| birth_name         =
-| birth_date  = {{circa}}1600
+| birth_date         = {{circa|1600}}
-| birth_place = [[Portuguese Angola|Portuguese Angola]]
+| birth_place        = [[Portuguese Angola]]
-| death_date  = 1670
+| death_date         = {{death year|1670}} (aged 69–70)
-| death_place = [[Colony of Virginia]]
+| death_place        = [[Colony of Virginia]]
-| nationality =
+| nationality        =
-| other_names = Antonio
+| other_names        = António or
+Antonio
-| occupation  = Farmer
+| occupation         = Farmer
-| known_for   = One of the first black Africans to own a slave in America<br/>The most prominent early colonial black to acquire freedom and wealth.
+| known_for          = An African man indentured in Maryland who amassed sizable landholding and had indentured servants and enslaved people in the 1600s.
+| signature          = Anthony Johnson Clerical Signature.png
 }}
-'''Anthony Johnson''' ({{abbr|b.|born}}&nbsp;{{circa}}&nbsp;1600 – {{abbr|d.|died}}&nbsp;1670) was a black [[Portuguese Angola|Angola]]n known for achieving freedom and wealth in the early 17th-century [[Colony of Virginia]]. He was one of the first African American property owners and had his right to legally own a slave recognized by the Virginia courts. Held as an [[indentured servant]] in 1621, he earned his freedom after several years, and was granted land by the colony.<ref name="Foner 1980"/>
+'''Anthony Johnson''' ({{circa}}&nbsp;1600 – 1670) was an Angolan-born man who achieved wealth in the early 17th-century [[Colony of Virginia]]. Held as an [[indentured servant]] in 1621, he earned his freedom after several years and was granted land by the colony.<ref name="Foner 1980"/>
-He later became a successful [[tobacco]] farmer in Maryland.  He attained great wealth after completing his term as an indentured servant, and has been referred to as "'the black patriarch' of the first community of Negro property owners in America".<ref name="Foner 1980">{{Cite journal|title=History of Black Americans: From Africa to the Emergence of the Cotton Kingdom |first=Philip S. |last=Foner |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1980 |url=http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=GR7529&chapterID=GR7529-747&path=books/greenwood |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014135617/http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=GR7529&chapterID=GR7529-747&path=books%2Fgreenwood |archivedate=2013-10-14 }}</ref>
+He later became a [[tobacco]] farmer in Maryland. He attained great wealth after completing his term as an indentured servant and has been referred to as "'the black patriarch' of the first community of Negro property owners in America".<ref name="Foner 1980">{{Cite book|title=History of Black Americans: From Africa to the Emergence of the Cotton Kingdom |first=Philip S. |last=Foner |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1980 |url=http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=GR7529&chapterID=GR7529-747&path=books/greenwood |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014135617/http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=GR7529&chapterID=GR7529-747&path=books%2Fgreenwood |archive-date=2013-10-14 }}</ref>
 ==Biography==
 ===Early life===
+In the early 1620s, African slave traders kidnapped the man who would later be known as Anthony Johnson in [[Portuguese Angola]] and sold him to Portuguese slavers, who named him António and sold him into the [[Atlantic slave trade]]. A colonist in Virginia bought António. As an indentured servant, António worked for a merchant at the [[Virginia Company]].<ref>Horton (2002), p. 29.</ref> He was also received into the Roman Catholic Church.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pender|first=Alicia|date=2021-03-13|title=Catholics who care about US Black history must read 'Four Hundred Souls'|url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/catholics-who-care-about-us-black-history-must-read-four-hundred-souls|access-date=2021-03-13|website=National Catholic Reporter|language=en}}</ref>
-Johnson was captured in his native [[Portuguese Angola|Angola]] by an enemy nation and sold to [[Arab]] slave traders. They sold his services as an indentured servant, Antonio, to a merchant working for the [[Virginia Company]].<ref>Horton (2002), p. 29.</ref>
-He sailed to Virginia in 1621 aboard the ''James.'' The Virginia Muster (census) of 1624 lists his name as "Antonio not given," recorded as "a Negro" in the "notes" column.<ref>Breen1980, p. 8.</ref> Historians have some dispute as to whether this was the Antonio later known as Anthony Johnson, as the census lists several "Antonios." This one is considered the most likely.<ref name="Walsh">{{cite book | last = Walsh | first = Lorena | year = 2010 | title = Motives of Honor, Pleasure, and Profit: Plantation Management in the Colonial Chesapeake, 1607-1763 | publisher = UNC Press | location = Pg 115 | isbn = 9780807832349 }}</ref>
+He sailed to Virginia in 1621 aboard the ''James.'' The Virginia Muster (census) of 1624 lists his name as "Antonio not given," recorded as "a Negro" in the "notes" column.<ref>Breen 1980, p. 8.</ref> Historians dispute whether this was the same António later known as Anthony Johnson, as the census lists several men named "Antonio". This one is considered the most likely.<ref name="Walsh">{{cite book | last = Walsh | first = Lorena | year = 2010 | title = Motives of Honor, Pleasure, and Profit: Plantation Management in the Colonial Chesapeake, 1607–1763 | publisher = UNC Press | page=115 | isbn = 978-0807832349 }}</ref>
-Johnson was sold as an [[indentured servitude|indentured servant]] to a white planter named Bennet to work on his Virginia tobacco farm. (Slave laws were not passed until 1661 in Virginia; prior to that date, Africans were not officially considered to be slaves).<ref>https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/indentured-servants-in-the-us/, Indentured Servants In The U.S.</ref> Such workers typically worked under a limited  indenture contract for four to seven years to pay off their passage, room, board, lodging, and freedom dues. In the early colonial years, most Africans in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] were held under such contracts of limited [[indentured servant|indentured servitude]]. With the exception of those indentured for life, they were released after a contracted period, with many of the indentured receiving land and equipment after their contracts expired or were bought out.<ref>Horton (2002), p. 26</ref> Most white laborers in this period also came to the colony as indentured servants.
+Johnson was sold as an [[indentured servitude|indentured servant]] to a white planter named Bennet to work on his Virginia tobacco farm. (Slave laws were not passed until 1661 in Virginia; before that date, Africans were not officially considered to be enslaved).<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/indentured-servants-in-the-us/ Indentured Servants In The U.S.], pbs.org. Accessed March 9, 2023.</ref>
+Such workers typically worked under a limited indenture contract for four to seven years to pay off their passage, room, board, lodging, and freedom dues. In the early colonial years, most Africans in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] were held under such contracts of limited [[indentured servant|indentured servitude]]. Except for those indentured for life, they were released after a contracted period. Those who managed to survive their period of indenture would receive land and equipment after their contracts expired or were bought out.<ref>Horton (2002), p. 26</ref> Most white laborers in this period also came to the colony as indentured servants.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}
-Antonio almost lost his life in the [[Indian massacre of 1622]], when his master's [[plantations in the American South|plantation]] was attacked. The [[Powhatan]], who were the Native Americans dominant in the [[Tidewater region|Tidewater]] of Virginia, were trying to evict the colonists from their lands. They attacked the settlement where Johnson worked on [[Good Friday]] and killed 52 of the 57 men.
+António almost died in the [[Indian massacre of 1622]] when Bennet's [[Plantation complexes in the Southern United States|plantation]] was attacked. The [[Powhatan]], who were the [[Native Americans in the United States|indigenous people]] dominant at that time in the [[Tidewater (region)|Tidewater region]] of Virginia, were attempting to evict the colonists. They raided the settlement where Johnson worked on [[Good Friday]] and killed 52 of the 57 men present.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}
-The following year (1623), "Mary, a Negro" arrived from England aboard the ship ''Margaret.'' She was brought to work on the same plantation as Antonio, where she was the only woman. Antonio and Mary married and lived together for more than forty years.<ref name="Breen10">Breen (1980), p. 10.</ref>
+In 1623, a Black woman named Mary arrived aboard the ship ''Margaret''. She was brought to work on the same plantation as António, where she was the only woman present. António and Mary married and lived together for more than forty years.<ref name="Breen10">Breen (1980), p. 10.</ref>
-===Freedom===
-Sometime after 1635, Antonio and Mary gained their freedom from indenture. Antonio changed his name to Anthony Johnson.<ref name="Breen10" /> He first entered the legal record as a free man when he purchased a calf in 1647.<ref>https://books.google.ca/books?id=NvKRDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT18&lpg=PT18&dq=anthony+Johnson+first+enters+the+legal+record+as+a+free+man+when+he+purchased+a+calf+in+1647.&source=bl&ots=HQiPKCiI3L&sig=ACfU3U0vmrx6DxlKY2yl8AqfGQ8fm62L3g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiF55Sa257kAhVjk-AKHc_gBZUQ6AEwDnoECA4QAQ#v=onepage&q=anthony%20Johnson%20first%20enters%20the%20legal%20record%20as%20a%20free%20man%20when%20he%20purchased%20a%20calf%20in%201647.&f=false, Up from Slavery; an Unfinished Journey</ref>
+===Conclusion of indentured servitude===
-Johnson was granted a large plot of farmland by the colonial government after he paid off his indentured contract by his labor.<ref name="Rodriguez" /> On 24 July 1651, he acquired {{convert|250|acre|ha}} of land under the [[headright]] system by buying the contracts of five indentured servants, one of whom was his son Richard Johnson. The land was located on the Great Naswattock Creek, which flowed into the [[Pungoteague, Virginia|Pungoteague River]] in [[Northampton County, Virginia]].<ref name="Heinegg">{{cite book | last = Heinegg | first = Paul | year = 2005 | title = Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina from the Colonial Period to about 1820, Volume 2 | publisher = Genealogical Publishing | location = Pg 705 | isbn = 9780806352824 }}</ref> Anthony Johnson. With his own indentured servants, Johnson ran his own tobacco farm. In fact, one of those servants, [[John Casor]], would later become the first African man to be declared indentured for life.<ref>https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/horrible-fate-john-casor-180962352/#TewjfFASFy7jWzhh.99, The Horrible Fate of John Casor, The First Black Man to be Declared Slave for Life in America</ref>
+Sometime after 1635, António and Mary concluded the terms of their indentured servitude. António changed his name to Anthony Johnson.<ref name="Breen10" /> He first entered the legal record as an unindentured man when he purchased a calf in 1647.<ref>{{Cite book |last=D.P.A |first=Archie Morris III |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NvKRDwAAQBAJ&dq=anthony+Johnson+first+enters+the+legal+record+as+a+free+man+when+he+purchased+a+calf+in+1647.&pg=PT18 |title=Up from Slavery; an Unfinished Journey: The Legacy of Dunbar High School |date=2019 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-1728304212 |language=en}}</ref>
-In 1652 "an unfortunate fire" caused "great losses" for the family, and Johnson applied to the courts for tax relief. The court reduced the family's taxes and on 28 February 1652, exempted his wife Mary and their two daughters from paying taxes at all "during their natural lives." At that time taxes were levied on people, not property. Under the 1645 Virginia taxation act, "all negro men and women and all other men from the age of 16 to 60 shall be judged tithable."<ref name="Heinegg" /><ref name="Breen">{{cite book | last = Breen | first = T. H. | year = 2004 | title = "Myne Owne Ground" : Race and Freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore, 1640-1676 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Pg 12 | isbn =  9780199729050 }}</ref> It is unclear from the records why the Johnson women were exempted, but the change gave them the same social standing as white women, who were not taxed.<ref name="Breen" /> During the case, the justices noted that Anthony and Mary "have lived Inhabitants in Virginia (above thirty years)" and had been respected for their "hard labor and known service".<ref name="Breen10" />
+The colonial government granted Johnson a large plot of farmland after he paid off his indentured contract by his labor.<ref name="Rodriguez" /> On July 24, 1651, he acquired {{convert|250|acre|ha}} of land under the [[headright]] system by buying the contracts of five indentured servants, one of whom was his son, Richard Johnson. The headright system worked so that if a man were to bring indentured servants over to the colonies (in this particular case, Johnson brought the five servants), he was owed 50 acres a "head", or servant.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A87350120/ITOF?sid=lms|title='Black and white' in Colonial Virginia|website=link.galegroup.com|language=en|access-date=2019-12-11}}</ref> The land was located on the Great Naswattock Creek, which flowed into the [[Pungoteague, Virginia|Pungoteague River]] in [[Northampton County, Virginia]].<ref name="Heinegg">{{cite book | last = Heinegg | first = Paul | year = 2005 | title = Free Africans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina from the Colonial Period to about 1820, Volume 2 | publisher = Genealogical Publishing | page=705 | isbn = 978-0806352824 }}</ref>
-By the 1650s, Anthony and Mary Johnson were farming 250 acres in Northampton County while their two sons owned a total of 550 acres.<ref> https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/virginia_s_first_africans, Virginia's First Africans</ref><ref>https://books.google.ca/books?id=2hexv5SmqLgC&pg=PT85&lpg=PT85&dq=anthony+johnson+virginia+indentured+gained+freedom+in+16&source=bl&ots=Xh9EUsyf0g&sig=ACfU3U13LrneWta7qUXi41hTmjaJq14fuw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiH3pyT1p7kAhXyRt8KHbyLCQg4HhDoATACegQICBAB#v=onepage&q=anthony%20johnson%20virginia%20indentured%20gained%20freedom%20in%2016&f=false, Colonial America: A History to 1763</ref>
+Johnson ran a tobacco farm using indentured servants. One of those servants, [[John Casor]], would later become one of the first African men to be declared indentured for life.<ref name="auto">{{cite news | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/horrible-fate-john-casor-180962352/#TewjfFASFy7jWzhh.99, | title=The Horrible Fate of John Casor, The First Black Man to be Declared Slave for Life in The Colonies| newspaper=Smithsonian Magazine| last1=Magazine| first1=Smithsonian}}</ref>
-==Casor suit==
-When Anthony Johnson was released from servitude, he was legally recognized as a "free Negro." He became a successful farmer. In 1651 he owned {{convert|250|acre|ha}}, and the services of five indentured servants (four white and one black). In 1653, John Casor, a black indentured servant whose contract Johnson appeared to have bought in the early 1640s, approached Captain Goldsmith, claiming his indenture had expired seven years earlier and that he was being held illegally by Johnson. A neighbor, Robert Parker, intervened and persuaded Johnson to free Casor.
+In 1652, "an unfortunate fire" caused "great losses" for the family, and Johnson applied to the courts for tax relief. The court reduced the family's taxes and, on February 28, 1652, exempted his wife Mary and their two daughters from paying taxes "during their natural lives." At that time, taxes were levied on people, not property. Under the 1645 Virginia taxation act, "all negro men and women and all other men from the age of 16 to 60 shall be judged tithable."<ref name="Heinegg" /><ref name="Breen">{{cite book | last = Breen | first = T. H. | year = 2004 | title = "Myne Owne Ground" : Race and Freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore, 1640–1676 | publisher = Oxford University Press | page=12 | isbn =  978-0199729050 }}</ref> It is unclear from the records why the Johnson women were exempted, but the change gave them the same social standing as white women, who were not taxed.<ref name="Breen" /> During the case, the justices noted that Anthony and Mary "have lived Inhabitants in Virginia (above thirty years)" and had been respected for their "hard labor and known service".<ref name="Breen10" />
-[[File:Court Ruling on Anthony Johnson and His Servant.png|thumb|right|<center>Handwritten court ruling. <br>''March 8, 1655''</center>]]
-Parker offered Casor work, and he signed a term of indenture to the planter. Johnson sued Parker in the Northampton Court in 1654 for the return of Casor. The court initially found in favor of Parker, but Johnson appealed. In 1655, the court reversed its ruling.<ref name="Walker">{{cite book | last = Walker | first = Juliet | year = 2009 | title = The History of Black Business in America: Capitalism, Race, Entrepreneurship, Volume 1 | publisher = [[University of North Carolina Press]] | location = Pg 49 | isbn = 9780807832417 }}</ref> Finding that Anthony Johnson still "owned" John Casor, the court ordered that he be returned with the court dues paid by Robert Parker.<ref name="Sweet2005">{{Cite book|author=Frank W. Sweet|title=Legal History of the Color Line: The Rise and Triumph of the One-Drop Rule|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kezflCVnongC&pg=PA117|accessdate=23 February 2013|date=July 2005|publisher=Backintyme|isbn=978-0-939479-23-8|page=117}}</ref>
+By the 1650s, Anthony and Mary Johnson were farming 250 acres in Northampton County, while their two sons owned 550 acres.<ref>[https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/virginia_s_first_africans, Virginia's First Africans], encyclopediavirginia.org. Accessed March 9, 2023.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lombard |first1=Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2hexv5SmqLgC&dq=anthony+johnson+virginia+indentured+gained+freedom+in+16&pg=PT85 |title=Colonial America: A History to 1763 |last2=Middleton |first2=Richard |date=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1444396287 |language=en}}</ref>
-This was the first instance of a judicial determination in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] holding that a person who had committed no crime could be held in servitude for life.<ref name="Project">{{cite book | last = [[Federal Writers' Project]] | year = 1954 | title = Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion | publisher = US History Publishers | location = Pg 76 | isbn = 9781603540452 }}</ref><ref name="Danver">{{cite book | last = Danver | first = Steven | year = 2010 | title = Popular Controversies in World History | publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]] | location = Pg 322 | isbn = 9781598840780 }}</ref><ref name="Kozlowski">{{cite book | last = Kozlowski | first = Darrell | year = 2010 | title = Colonialism: Key Concepts in American History | publisher = [[Infobase Publishing]] | location = Pg 78 | isbn = 9781604132175 }}</ref><ref name="Conway">{{cite book | last = Conway | first = John | year = 2008 | title = A Look at the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments: Slavery Abolished, Equal Protection Established | publisher = [[Enslow Publishers]] | location = Pg 5 | isbn = 9781598450705 }}</ref><ref name="Toppin">{{cite book | last = Toppin | first = Edgar | year = 2010 | title = The Black American in United States History | publisher = [[Allyn & Bacon]]| location = Pg 46 | isbn = 9781475961720 }}</ref>
+==Casor lawsuit==
-Though Casor was the first person declared a slave in a civil case, there were both black and white indentured servants sentenced to lifetime servitude before him. Many historians describe indentured servant [[John Punch (slave)|John Punch]] as the first documented slave (or slave for life) in America, as punishment for escaping in 1640. Punch was required to "serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural Life here or elsewhere".<ref>https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p262.html, Virgina recognizes slavery
-- 1663</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Out of the Land of Bondage": The English Revolution and the Atlantic Origins of Abolition |first=John |last=Donoghue |publisher=The American Historical Review  |date=2010 |url=http://ahr.oxfordjournals.org/content/115/4/943.full.pdf}}</ref><ref>Russell, 29</ref> The Punch case was significant because it established the disparity between his sentence as a negro and that of the two European indentured servants who escaped with him (one described as Dutch and one as a Scotchman). It is the first documented case in Virginia of an African sentenced to lifetime servitude. It is considered one of the first legal cases to make a racial distinction between black and white indentured servants.<ref name="LLC">[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awlaw3/slavery.html Slavery and Indentured Servants] [[Law Library of Congress]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.virtualjamestown.org/practise.html |title=Slave Laws |publisher=Virtual Jamestown |date= |accessdate=2013-11-04}}</ref>
+When Anthony Johnson was released from his servitude, he was legally recognized as a "free Negro." He became a successful farmer. In 1651, he owned {{convert|250|acre|ha}} and the services of five indentured servants (four white and one black). In 1653, John Casor, a black indentured servant whose contract Johnson appeared to have bought in the early 1640s, approached Captain Goldsmith, claiming his indenture had expired seven years earlier and that he was being held illegally by Johnson. A neighbor, Robert Parker, intervened and persuaded Johnson to free Casor.
+[[File:Court Ruling on Anthony Johnson and His Servant.png|thumb|right|{{center|Handwritten court ruling. <br />''March 8, 1655''}}]]
+Parker offered Casor work, and he signed a term of indenture to the planter. Johnson filed a [[Freedom suit]] against Parker in the Northampton Court in 1654 for the return of Casor. The court initially found in favor of Parker, but Johnson appealed. In 1655, the court reversed its ruling.<ref name="Walker">{{cite book | last = Walker | first = Juliet | year = 2009 | title = The History of Black Business in America: Capitalism, Race, Entrepreneurship, Volume 1 | publisher = [[University of North Carolina Press]] | page=49 | isbn = 978-0807832417 }}</ref> Finding that Anthony Johnson still "owned" John Casor, the court ordered that he be returned with the court dues paid by Robert Parker.<ref name="Sweet2005">{{Cite book|author=Frank W. Sweet|title=Legal History of the Color Line: The Rise and Triumph of the One-Drop Rule|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kezflCVnongC&pg=PA117|access-date=23 February 2013|date=2005|publisher=Backintyme|isbn=978-0939479238|page=117}}</ref>
+This was the first instance of a judicial determination in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] holding that a person who had committed no crime could be held in servitude for life.<ref name="Project">{{cite book | last = Federal Writers' Project | author-link = Federal Writers' Project | year = 1954 | title = Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion | publisher = US History Publishers |page=76 | isbn = 978-1603540452 }}</ref><ref name="Danver">{{cite book | last = Danver | first = Steven | year = 2010 | title = Popular Controversies in World History | publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]] | page=322 | isbn = 978-1598840780 }}</ref><ref name="Kozlowski">{{cite book | last = Kozlowski | first = Darrell | year = 2010 | title = Colonialism: Key Concepts in American History | publisher = [[Infobase Publishing]] | page=78 | isbn = 978-1604132175 }}</ref><ref name="Conway">{{cite book | last = Conway | first = John | year = 2008 | title = A Look at the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments: Slavery Abolished, Equal Protection Established | publisher = [[Enslow Publishers]] | page=5 | isbn = 978-1598450705 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/lookatthirteenth0000conw }}</ref><ref name="Toppin">{{cite book | last = Toppin | first = Edgar | year = 2010 | title = The Black American in United States History | publisher = [[Allyn & Bacon]]| page=46 | isbn = 978-1475961720 }}</ref>
+Though Casor was the first person who was declared an enslaved person in a civil case, there were both black and white indentured servants sentenced to lifetime servitude before him. Many historians describe indentured servant [[John Punch (slave)|John Punch]] as the first documented slave (or slave for life) in America as punishment for escaping his captors in 1640. It is considered one of the first legal cases to make a racial distinction between black and white indentured servants.<ref name="LLC">[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awlaw3/slavery.html Slavery and Indentured Servants] [[Law Library of Congress]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.virtualjamestown.org/practise.html |title=Slave Laws |publisher=Virtual Jamestown |access-date=2013-11-04}}</ref>
 ===Significance of Casor lawsuit===
-The Casor lawsuit demonstrates the culture and mentality of planters in the mid-17th century. Individuals made assumptions about the society of Northampton County and their place in it. According to historians T.R. Breen and Stephen Innes, Casor believed he could form a stronger relationship with his patron Robert Parker than Anthony Johnson had formed over the years with his patrons. Casor considered the dispute to be a matter of patron-client relationship, and this wrongful assumption resulted in his losing his case in court and having the ruling against him. Johnson knew that the local justices shared his basic belief in the sanctity of property. The judge sided with Johnson, although in future legal issues, race played a larger role.<ref>Breen and Innes, ''"Myne Owne Ground,"'' p. 15</ref>
+The Casor lawsuit demonstrates the culture and mentality of planters in the mid-17th century. Individuals made assumptions about the society of Northampton County and their place in it. According to historians T.H. Brean and Stephen Innes, Casor believed he could form a stronger relationship with his patron, Robert Parker, than Anthony Johnson had developed over the years with his patrons. Casor considered the dispute to be a matter of patron-client relationship, and this wrongful assumption resulted in his losing his case in court and having the ruling against him. Johnson knew that the local justices shared his fundamental belief in the sanctity of property. The judge sided with Johnson, although in future legal issues, race played a more prominent role.<ref>Breen and Innes, ''"Myne Owne Ground,"'' p. 15</ref>
-The Casor lawsuit was an example of how difficult it was for Africans who were indentured servants to prevent being reduced to slavery. Most Africans could not read and had almost no knowledge of the English language. Planters found it easy to force them into slavery by refusing to acknowledge the completion of their indentured contracts.<ref name="Foner 1980"/> This is what happened in ''Johnson v. Parker.'' Although two white planters confirmed that Casor had completed his indentured contract with Johnson, the court still ruled in Johnson's favor.<ref>Klein, 43-44.</ref>
+The Casor lawsuit was an example of how difficult it was for Africans who were indentured servants to prevent being reduced to slavery. Most Africans could not read and had almost no knowledge of the English language. Planters found it easy to force them into slavery by refusing to acknowledge the completion of their indentured contracts.<ref name="Foner 1980"/> This is what happened in ''Johnson v. Parker.'' Although two white planters confirmed that Casor had completed his indentured contract with Johnson, the court still ruled in Johnson's favor.<ref>Klein, 43–44.</ref>
 ==Later life==
 [[File:Anthony Johnson MARKE 600.png|thumbnail|right|1666 Marke of Anthony Johnson]]
-In 1657, Johnson’s white neighbor, [[Edmund Scarborough]], forged a letter in which Johnson acknowledged a debt. Johnson did not contest the case. Johnson was illiterate and could not have written the letter; nevertheless, the court awarded Scarborough {{convert|100|acre|ha}} of Johnson’s land to pay off his alleged "debt".<ref name="Rodriguez">{{cite book | last = Rodriguez | first = Junius | title = Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 2 | publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]] | location = Pg 353 | isbn = 9781851095445 | year = 2007 }}</ref>
+In 1657, Johnson's neighbor, [[Edmund Scarborough]], allegedly forged a letter in which Johnson acknowledged a debt; whether this debt was real or not is unknown. Johnson did not contest the case. Johnson was illiterate and could not have written the letter; nevertheless, the court awarded Scarborough {{convert|100|acre|ha}} of Johnson's land to pay off his alleged "debt".<ref name="Rodriguez">{{cite book | last = Rodriguez | first = Junius | title = Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 2 | publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]] | page=353 | isbn = 978-1851095445 | year = 2007 }}</ref>
-In this early period, free blacks enjoyed "relative equality" with the white community. About 20% of free black Virginians owned their own homes. By 1665, however, racism was becoming more common. In 1662 the Virginia Colony passed a law that children in the colony were born with the social status of their mother, according to the Roman principle of ''[[partus sequitur ventrem]]''. This meant that the children of slave women were born into slavery, even if their fathers were free, English, Christian, and white. This was a reversal of English [[common law]], which held that the children of English subjects took the status of their father. Africans were considered foreigners and thus were not English subjects.<ref name="Banks">[http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/fac_pubs/52/ Taunya Lovell Banks, "Dangerous Woman: Elizabeth Key's Freedom Suit – Subjecthood and Racialized Identity in Seventeenth Century Colonial Virginia"], Digital Commons Law, University of Maryland Law School. Retrieved April 21, 2009.</ref>
+In this early period, free blacks enjoyed "relative equality" with the white community. About 20% of free black Virginians owned their own homes. In 1662, the Virginia Colony passed a law that children in the colony were born with the social status of their mother, according to the Roman principle of ''[[partus sequitur ventrem]]''. This meant that the children of slave women were born into slavery, even if their fathers were free, European, Christian, and white. This was a reversal of English [[common law]], which held that the children of English subjects took the status of their father. The Virginian colonial government expressed the opinion that since Africans were not Christians, common law could not and did not apply to them.<ref name="Banks">[http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/fac_pubs/52/ Taunya Lovell Banks, "Dangerous Woman: Elizabeth Key's Freedom Suit – Subjecthood and Racialized Identity in Seventeenth Century Colonial Virginia"], Digital Commons Law, University of Maryland Law School. Retrieved April 21, 2009.</ref>
-Anthony Johnson moved his family to [[Somerset County, Maryland]], where he negotiated a lease on a {{convert|300|acres|ha|adj=on}} plot of land for ninety-nine years. He developed the property as a [[tobacco]] farm, which he named Tories Vineyards.<ref>Johnson (1999), ''Africans in America'', p. 44.</ref>
-Mary survived, and in 1672 she bequeathed a cow to each of her grandsons.
+Anthony Johnson moved his family to [[Somerset County, Maryland]], where he negotiated a lease on a {{convert|300|acres|ha|adj=on}} plot of land for ninety-nine years. He developed the property as a [[tobacco]] farm, which he named Tories Vineyards.<ref>Johnson (1999), ''Africans in America'', p. 44.</ref>
+Mary survived, and in 1672, she bequeathed a cow to each of her grandsons.
 Research indicates that when Johnson died in 1670, his plantation was given to a white colonist, not to Johnson's children. A judge had ruled that he was "not a citizen of the colony" because he was black.
-<ref>https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/horrible-fate-john-casor-180962352/#TewjfFASFy7jWzhh.99, The Horrible Fate of John Casor, The First Black Man to be Declared Slave for Life in America</ref> In 1677, Anthony and Mary’s grandson, John Jr., purchased a 44-acre farm which he named Angola. John Jr. died without leaving an heir, however. By 1730, the Johnson family had vanished from the historical records.<ref>[http://www.blackpast.org/aah/johnson-anthony-1670#sthash.Q7U936b9.dpuf "Johnson, Anthony - 1670"], Black Past.org </ref>
+<ref name="auto"/> In 1677, Anthony and Mary's grandson, John Jr., purchased a {{convert|44|acre|ha|adj=on|abbr=off}} farm, which he named Angola. John Jr. died without leaving an heir, however. By 1730, the Johnson family had vanished from historical significance.<ref>[http://www.blackpast.org/aah/johnson-anthony-1670#sthash.Q7U936b9.dpuf "Johnson, Anthony – 1670"], Black Past.org</ref> Genealogical research suggests that some of Anthony's other descendants moved to Delaware and then to North Carolina.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.asu.edu/20190819-discoveries-impossible-story-african-pioneer-colonial-america|title = The impossible story of an African pioneer in colonial America|date = 19 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/Jeffery_Johnson.htm|title = Jeffery-Johnson}}</ref>
 ==See also==
+* [[African-American history]]
-*[[African-American history]]
 ==References==
-{{Reflist|30em}}
+{{Reflist}}
 ===Sources===
 <!--Keep in alphabetical order by surname of author; make format standard-->
 * Berlin, Ira. ''Many Thousands Gone, The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America'', Harvard University Press, 1998.
-* Breen, Timothy and Stephen Innes. ''"Myne Own Ground" Race and Freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore,'' 1979/reprint 2004, 25th anniversary edition: Oxford University Press
+* Breen, Timothy and Stephen Innes. ''"Myne Own Ground" Race and Freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore,'' 1979/reprint 2004, 25th-anniversary edition: Oxford University Press
-* Cox, Ryan Charles. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100628164739/http://nabbhistory.salisbury.edu/settlers/profiles/johnson1.html "The Johnson Family: The Migratory Study of an African-American Family on the Eastern Shore", ''Delmarva Settlers]'', University of Maryland Salisbury, accessed 16 November 2012.
+* Cox, Ryan Charles. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100628164739/http://nabbhistory.salisbury.edu/settlers/profiles/johnson1.html Delmarva Settlers Settlers and Sites -] "The Johnson Family: The Migratory Study of an African-American Family on the Eastern Shore", ''Delmarva Settlers]'', University of Maryland Salisbury, accessed 16 November 2012.
 * Horton, James Oliver and [[Lois Horton|Lois E. Horton]], ''Hard Road to Freedom: The Story of African America,'' Rutgers University Press, 2002.
 * Johnson, Charles; Patricia Smith, and the [[WGBH-TV|WGBH]] Research Team, ''Africans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery,'' Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1999.
-* Klein, Herbert S. ''Slavery in the Americas; A Comparative Study of Virginia and Cuba''.
+* Klein, Herbert S. ''Slavery in the Americas; A Comparative Study of Virginia and Cuba''.{{ISBN?}}
-* Nash, Gary B., [[Julie R. Jeffrey]], John R. Howe, Peter J. Frederick, Allen F. Davis,  and Allan M. Winkler. ''The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society''. 6th ed. New York: Pearson, 2004. 74-75.
+* Nash, Gary B., [[Julie R. Jeffrey]], John R. Howe, Peter J. Frederick, Allen F. Davis,  and Allan M. Winkler. ''The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society''. 6th ed. New York: Pearson, 2004. 74–75.{{ISBN?}}
-* Matthews, Harry Bradshaw, ''The Family Legacy of Anthony Johnson: From Jamestown, VA to Somerset, MD, 1619-1995'', Oneonta, NY: Sondhi Loimthongkul Center for Interdependence, Hartwick College, 1995.
+* Matthews, Harry Bradshaw, ''The Family Legacy of Anthony Johnson: From Jamestown, VA to Somerset, MD, 1619–1995'', Oneonta, NY: Sondhi Loimthongkul Center for Interdependence, Hartwick College, 1995.{{ISBN?}}
-* Russell, Jack Henderson. ''The Free Negro in Virginia, 1619-1865,'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1913
+* Russell, Jack Henderson. ''The Free Negro in Virginia, 1619–1865,'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1913
 * WPA Writers' Program, ''Virginia, Guide to The Old Dominion'', Oxford University Press, NY, 1940 (p.&nbsp;378)
 * [http://mdroots.thinkport.org/library/anthonyjohnson.asp "Anthony Johnson"], Thinkport Library
@@ Line 95: / Line 102: @@
 * [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p265.html "Anthony Johnson"], ''Africans in America,'' PBS.org
 * [http://mdroots.thinkport.org/library/anthonyjohnson.asp "Anthony Johnson"], Exploring Maryland's Roots
-* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/johnson.html Johnson Family], "The Blurred Racial Lines Famous Families" FRONTLINE PBS
+* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/johnson.html Johnson Family], "The Blurred Racial Lines Famous Families" ''Frontline'' PBS
 * [http://www.aahistoricsitesva.org/items/show/388 Site of 17th Century Estate of Anthony and Mary Johnson]
 * [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~molcgdrg/sur/1j/johnson-heinegg1.htm Johnson Family Genealogy Report]
-http://www.blackpast.org/aah/johnson-anthony-1670
+* [http://www.blackpast.org/aah/johnson-anthony-1670 Anthony Johnson (?–1670), BlackPast]
+* [http://www.snopes.com/facts-about-slavery/ Fact CheckF: 9 'Facts' About Slavery They Don't Want You to Know]
+* [http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Court_Ruling_on_Anthony_Johnson_and_His_Servant_1655 Court Ruling on Anthony Johnson and His Servant (1655)]
+{{Slavery in Virginia}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Anthony}}
 [[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
 [[Category:1670 deaths]]
 [[Category:American people of Angolan descent]]
-[[Category:American slave owners]]
+[[Category:17th-century American slaves]]
-[[Category:American slaves]]
+[[Category:American indentured servants]]
-[[Category:Indentured servants]]
+[[Category:People enslaved in Virginia]]
-[[Category:History of slavery in Virginia]]
+[[Category:People from colonial Virginia]]
-[[Category:Virginia colonial people]]
+[[Category:African-American slave owners]]
+[[Category:African-American Catholics]]
-http://www.snopes.com/facts-about-slavery/
+[[Category:17th-century American landowners]]
-http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Court_Ruling_on_Anthony_Johnson_and_His_Servant_1655
+[[Category:17th-century African-American people]]

v t e History of slavery in Virginia
Slavery in the colonial history of the United States History of Virginia
Enslaved people	Angela (fl. 1619–1625) Henry Box Brown (c. 1815–1897) Anthony Burns (1834–1862) John Casor (living 1655) Emanuel Driggus (c. 1620s-d. 1673) Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–1797) Isabella Gibbons (c. 1836–1890) William D. Gibbons (1825–1886) John Graweere (living 1641) Elizabeth Key Grinstead (Greenstead) (1630–1665) Left, husband of Jane Webb (fl. 1704–1727) Mary and Anthony Johnson (1600–1670) Philip Lee (c. 1785–?) Dangerfield Newby (c. 1820–1859) John Punch (fl. 1630s, living 1640) Gabriel Prosser (1776–1800) William Tucker (born 1624) Nat Turner (1800–1831) Booker T. Washington (1856–1915)
Slave owners	Presidents of the United States Washington Jefferson Madison Monroe Tyler John Armfield (1797–1871) Carter Braxton (1736–1797) Landon Carter (1710–1778) Robert "King" Carter (1663–1732) Robert Carter III (1728–1804) Thomas Roderick Dew (1802–1846) Andrew Hunter (1804–1888) Robert M. T. Hunter (1809–1887) Eppa Hunton (1822–1908) Richard Bland Lee (1761–1827) William Mahone (1826–1895) George Mason (1725–1792) James M. Mason (1798–1871) John Page (1628–1692) Thomas Prosser (died 1798) Randolph family of Virginia William Barton Rogers (1804–1882) George Henry Thomas (1816–1870) William Tucker (died 1642) John Wayles (1715–1773) Henry A. Wise (1806–1876) Seth Woodroof (1805–1875)
Plantations	Beall-Air Berry Hill Brookfield Kenmore Monticello Montpelier Mount Airy Mount Vernon (enslaved people) Oatlands Poplar Forest Shirley Stratford Hall Tuckahoe Westover Woodlawn List of plantations in Virginia
Slave pens	Bruin's Slave Jail The Cage Franklin and Armfield Office Lumpkin's Jail
Other sites	African American Burial Ground Bremo Slave Chapel Memorial to Enslaved Laborers White House of the Confederacy
Legal history	Virginia Slave Codes of 1705 Virginia v. John Brown
Revolts	Gabriel's Rebellion Nat Turner's Rebellion John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
Related articles	The 1619 Project Atlantic Creole Burning of Winchester Medical College Coastwise slave trade First Africans in Virginia Indentured servitude in Virginia District of Columbia retrocession Great Dismal Swamp maroons Human trafficking in Virginia Liberation and Freedom Day Richmond slave market Virginia in the American Civil War