John Graweere: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 03:58, 14 May 2021
John Graweere (ca. 1615–living 1641) was one of the First Africans in Virginia, who was a servant that earned enough money to pay for his son's freedom. He filed a lawsuit to free his son, arguing that he wanted to raise him as a Christian. The court agreed and freed the son. This happened before the colony enacted a law based upon Partus sequitur ventrem in 1662 that held that children of enslaved women were born into slavery.
Early life
John Graweere was born in Africa around 1615 with the name of Joao Geaween. He was likely born in Angola.[1][2] He is believed to have arrived in Virginia between the 1620s or early 1630s.[2]
Servitude
He was among the First Africans in Virginia. He lived in James City (now Jamestown), one of the few black indentured servants, and likely worked as a field hand in tobacco fields for William Evans. It was not clear if he was enslaved for a lifetime or was a servant for a set number of years.[1] Graweere was able to raise hogs and the earnings were split between himself and Evans.[3]
Marriage and child
He met Margaret Cornish and married her around 1635. She was born in Africa and in Virginia she was enslaved by Lieutenant Robert Sheppard,[2] who owned the Chippoke plantation in Surrey County, Virginia.[4] John and Margaret had a boy named Mihill or Michael in the late 1630s.[2]
Graweere saved his earnings and had enough money to purchase his son from Sheppard, who was the slaveholder for Margaret and Mihill. It was unclear who legally owned the boy.[5]
Legal suit
Graweere was one of the first African Americans to petition the court. He filed a lawsuit in on March 31, 1641 to purchase his son from Lieutenant Robert Sheppard, who was the slaveholder of the enslaved woman and her child.[3] Graweere's intention was to raise his son as a Christian, specifically of the Church of England.[3] Graweere won the court case,[6] which said that the boy should "remain at the disposing and education of the said Graweere and the child's godfather - who undertaketh to see it brought up in the Christian religion as aforesaid."[7][8] The boy was not to be a servant or slave to Evans or others.[5] The colony of Virginia enacted a law in 1662 that made a child's status, whether enslaved or free, based upon that of the mother per Partus sequitur ventrem.[4]
He was said to have "exhibited a sure-handed understanding of Chesapeake social hierarchy and the complex dynamics of patron-client relations."[4]
Other
There was a man, John, who was a servant of ship captain William Evans or Ewins. John was in England in 1622 when he departed on the James.[5]
References
- ^ a b Niven, Steven J. "Graweere, John". Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-36947. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
- ^ a b c d "Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade". Journal of Slavery and Data Protection. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
- ^ a b c "The Case of John Graweere (March 31, 1641)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
- ^ a b c "African Americans on Jamestown Island" (PDF). National Park Service. pp. 19, 45–.
- ^ a b c "1619 Virginia's First Africans". hampton.gov.
- ^ "Africans in America - Part 1 Africans in court". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
- ^ Higginbotham, A. Leon, Jr. (1978-05-21). "Virginia Led the Way In Legal Oppression". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ BlackFacts.com. "The Virginia court rules in favor of John Graweere,an indentured servant who p". Blackfacts.com. Retrieved 2021-05-14.