Introduction

Born in 1800, there is much that is unknown about Anthony Johnson, a figure that deserves to be more well-known in the history of early America. Angolan-born and taken as a captive to Virginia in 1621, Johnson’s life trajectory rather unfolded. At the end he had to wait long as an indentured servant; however, he was able to buy his freedom and became a prosperous farmer. This is not the end of his story. Johnson’s later life would see him as a party to one of the first documented instances of African slaves being owned in the colonies of America, a fact that the modern right-wing propaganda love to delve into.

However, Anthony Johnson’s story is far more nuanced than those slogans might have you believe. The life of Joseph Stevens Allen spanned the period between just before the adoption of American race based slavery laws and the time when those laws solidified raced based slavery. They include Johnson, a captured African who later became a prosperous farmer in colonial America though all these stories show that they are less well known than the stories of the Pilgrims.

The early life and immigration to America of Anthony Johnson

It is fathomable that in the social-demographic perspective, Anthony Johnson stamped his entry in the list of residents of Jamestown in Virginia in 1621 as an indentured servant. Johnson and similar to many other Africans of the time were not transported to the Americas as slaves in the first place. However, he ended up in the middle of a brand of slavery which required the work of a servant for a predetermined number of years on the promises he would be set free afterwards.

This hold was true for those in colonial America during the early period; it was also applicable to the poor Europeans. But for Africans it was not so sweet as demanded equal freedom in the society after getting freedom from slave masters.

Through his story of being captured and sold to America, Johnson was a rare black man who become a free man at that certain time in the colonies when the relationship between the black and the whites was gradually changing. That he was able to survive this brutal system and finally garner his emancipation from it offers an interesting insight into how slavery was maturing in the new world to how colonial existence was progressively becoming complex.

Anthony Johnson on Becoming a Free Landowner

The nature of life that Anthony Johnson was able to develop for himself shows how far a man of African heritage could rise in the 17th century Virginia as he became a prosperous landowner. Sometime after 1650 Johnson became a man of substance and a planter, farming tobacco because, at that time, it remained one of the most profitable crops in the colonies. His success also serves to show that, in this early form of America, one could easily ‘climb the ladder’ from being an indentured servant to a wealthy planter.

But, the reminiscence of Johnson prematurely ended when he got engaged in a legal case in 1655. This was an important point of the American history as it was one of the first reported cases of an African man, owning another native African, as a slave. This legal decision would set a precedent for the increasing influence of slavery in America, and change the balance of race relations in the colonies – and in the laws – for generations to come.

These notes outline the changes that slavery underwent in the colonies in America.

This paper seeks to unravel the biography of Anthony Johnson set within a historical narrative of evolving legal systems and espoused culture in colonial United States of America. At first it was not clear distinction between slavery and indentured servitude as both Africans, and Europeans could serve a term. But as the demand for slave labor increased mainly in tobacco production, there was some changes to the laws.

During the late seventeenth century, Virginia laws started to cement the race basis of slavery with the former indentured servants suffering denial of equality with other European settlers. John Casor did this because it clearly showed that Johnson’s ownership of John Casor became a significant landmark when African slavery became established in America laws.

In this case, Johnson’s life is essentially used as a paradigm of this historical transition; it was perfectly acceptable for one man to move from being a successful landowner to developing a larger narrative on the nature of race and the power that this new race carried in the new world; this land ownership translated into the American dream and landed the foundation for century of ethnic supremacy.

Anthony Johnson as an Anti-Black Racialized Figure Operating as a Right Wing Ferment

The main contribution of Anthony Johnson has remained in the realm of the past, but in recent years, he became involved in modern political discussions, mainly with rightists. They frequently use his case when discussing the message of American history about racism and slavery since every story heard here is not easy to interpret. Thus, referring to Johnson’s position of a landowner and slave holder, some try to undermine the system of racism or African slavery as a distinct system.

But this interpretation only partly reflects the historical process, and excepts much more than it could be thought of. Johnson’s tale is not an ethos; it embodies the changes in colonial America as laws transition from indentured servants to systemic racism . This is the type of abuse of the narrative that blurs the roots of the longest and most unresolved path of race relations. To appreciate Johnson’s life and explore his legacy, it is not enough to come with a set of political prejudices — this case invites to delve deeper into how race interacted with power in the context of United States, and how identity was constructed within this matrix.

The Paradox of Anthony Johnson’s Story

Anthony Johnson’s story fits the common frame of post-slavery black history in America but the paradox is, his narrative is both black and American in every sense of the term. This paper would focus on the success of the man as a land and business owner, the facts also tell us more of a story of transition and development of the law in support of slavery than that of liberty.

Despite his story being a rags to riches one, Johnson’s life is proof of how analyzing opportunity meant analyzing prejudice too. He seems to hover between possibility and oppression, and this is a time that marks a shift toward formalized race oppression.

Analyzing Johnson in this context helps to realize numerous peculiarities of early colonial America. It also postulates the recovery of historical sources from the modern political appropriations as a key aspect of critical historical work. Johnson’s story can be seen with fresh eyes and help open a dialogue about American history that examines the good with the bad in order to create an understanding that encompasses the full complexities of the country’s past.