On August 20, 1619, a large ship arrived off the coast of present-day Hampton, Virginia, carrying what English colonist John Rolfe described as “nothing but 20 and odd negroes.” Little did Rolfe know that these Africans and their descendants would transform the Virginia colony, which had been struggling to build and sustain an economy.
About nine years earlier Rolfe began experimenting with growing tobacco commercially using Spanish tobacco seeds, which produced a more pleasing taste than the tobacco indigenous people grew and smoked.
The labor force consisted of English indentured servants who were growing and harvesting tobacco in Virginia several years before the first Africans, who are believed to have been from Angola, were brought here on the Treasurer and White Lion. These English privateer ships had taken the Angolans as “booty” after attacking the San Juan Bautista, the slave ship that was transporting them to Vera Cruz, Mexico, a Spanish colony known for its sugar plantations.
While the Angolans were empty-handed, they retained the knowledge and skills they had learned in their homeland. They knew how to lead empires, build homes and boats, make metal tools and weapons, weave cloth to make clothing, design and make musical instruments and jewelry, and to grow and harvest crops, notably tobacco.
Angolans had been growing and smoking tobacco since the 1500s after being introduced to tobacco by the Portuguese. This would prove to be an invaluable skill to the colonists. Within 50 years laws would be codified in Jamestown to exploit the knowledge, skills and labor of Africans by enslaving them.
African labor, skills and knowledge would build and keep afloat southern colleges and universities, including William & Mary, the University of Virginia and Georgetown University. The homes of several U.S. presidents including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were built by the people they enslaved.
Virginia would continue to pass laws to disenfranchise people of African ancestry, resulting in the 1705 Slave Codes — thereby, building a colony and state that stifled African American voices and well-being to generate more wealth.
By 1860, Virginia would boast the highest population and highest enslaved population in the southern states. Moreover, the antebellum south exceeded the wealth of northern states with the per capita income in Virginia being in the top percentile.
Today, 403 years later, Virginians have the responsibility to address the legacies of slavery, which have resulted in the racial unrest, injustices and disparities that we still witness today.
We begin with a commitment to build bigger tables that include and value African American voices.
Next, we help to organize and participate in honest discussions about racial issues in our community.
We also correct false historical narratives that have ignored, glossed over and romanticized the human suffering that African Americans have endured due to generational trauma caused by dehumanizing systems of slavery, Jim Crow and racial discrimination.
Finally, by acknowledging the racial history of our community and taking tangible actions to repair the harms, we are choosing the clear path to racial healing, reconciliation and justice.
When we come together to create a more inclusive and just community, we all win!
Laura D. Hill is the founder and director of Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle, a program of the Virginia Racial Healing Institute that is affiliated with a national racial reconciliation organization. Learn more at www.comingtothetable-historictriangle.org/.
