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Introduction
Anthony Johnson came to America as an indentured servant in the 1600s, when full-blown slavery was not the norm in colonial America. He became very successful, almost as much as an English colonist; he owned land and slaves of his own, and even won a court case against an Englishman, which was a huge achievement in early, biased courts! However, his children and grandchildren had their rights and property taken away over the following years as more and more restrictive laws began to be passed, -
Period: to
Diminishing Progress Through Law Passage
This timespan includes everything but the conclusion and Works Cited pages. -
Introduction, cont'd
victims of diminishing progress. -
Act X
"[This statute created a legal distinction between white and black men.]
ALL persons except negroes to be provided with arms and ammunition or be fined at the pleasure of the Governor and Councill (Hening 226)." This represents diminishing progress because it was the starting event. It began a long, slow downward spiral and perhaps even sparked almost all racism in America. -
Act X, Cont'd
It might have been intended to suppress rebellion among indentured servants. Even around the Civil War, armed and unarmed revolts by slaves were not rare. Take the example of Nat Turner's rebellion. Using only their hands, Turner and more than 70 others killed over 65 people. Imagine if they had guns; the casualties on both sides would have been much, much higher. This gives another possible reason for slave gun control: if not to suppress rebellion, to keep casualties on all sides low. -
Court Case A
Summary: Anthony gets some land (Ames 457)
This represents diminishing progress because it begins Anthony's period of success, which would, soon after his death, be completely wiped out. Anthony began said successful period in which he gained land and property, married and had children. He even began to own slaves! Sadly, this success wave would not carry over to the next Johnson generation, as will be seen in Document H. -
Court Case A, cont'd
So why's this such a big deal? He bought a house and got married; what's so special about that? Consider, if you will, the fact that nobody else did it. Very few Africans at that time became that successful, especially ones staying in the South. Few African indentured servants ended up gaining as much freedom as white indentured servants. This event, a court case where he gets some land, is so important because Anthony Johnson was one of the only ones to do so. -
Court Case A, cont'd, cont'd
Another important thing is that, with this land, Anthony was able to farm his own food. He didn't have to rely on an employer for his food. He was completely self-sufficient, unlike other Africans at the time who were primarily servants relying on an employer for food and housing. With land, he could "cultivate some foodstuffs that he could sell to others (Davis pbs.org)." In short, obtaining land was a very important event, and directed his life to a better path, that of independence. -
Court Case B
Summary: Anthony goes to court to try to keep his slave, but was persuaded to free him. (Walczyk 192-193)
This represents diminishing progress because it shows Anthony's success by how he, a former indentured servant, owned a slave. This might not seem like a big thing, but it was. He was an African former indentured servant, and he went to a white court and, later in 1654, won his own slave. It may have been one of the most successful points in his life. -
Court Case B, cont'd
So why is this so important to the concept of diminishing progress? He was so successful; he may have been the most successful non-white in a ten-mile radius, an he was a former servant who got his own servant. However, as more laws were passed, his descendants would lose their rights and even the land and servants for which they had worked so hard. -
Document H: John Russell
"In 1665, Anthony Johnson moved to Maryland... where he died 5 years later. But back in Virginia... the land Johnson left behind could be seized... because he was a "negroe and by consequence an alien (Russell 234-35
This further demonstrates diminishing progress by showing how lawmakers considered him an alien, and took the land he left to his children. -
Document H, cont'd
This event continues the long path of diminishing progress by showing how even the most successful African was considered to be an alien and had no rights. They were considered to be barely human. Soon, when Act VI would be passed, they would be considered animals due to the inhuman punishment given for stealing two pigs. Six years after that they would be forced into property status. The lawmakers had taken away their rights and property, and they then found a way to take away their humanity. -
Act VI. An act for the punishment of slaves for the first and second offence of Hog stealing.
Summary: This law details the inhuman punishment inflicted upon slaves who stole a single hog (Hening 179).
This event continues the downward spiral of diminishing progress. The law now implied that slaves were barely human, considered to be as much animals as the hogs they might steal. Today, a live pig costs about $50, depending on where you buy and how large the pig is (source). Hogs from -
Act VI, cont'd
that time were bound to be a lot smaller, since modern agriculture emphasizes fattening the pigs over much else, which would make the price of a 17th-century pig roughly $30, or even less. Now, many states have an upper limit of between $500 and $1,000 for petty theft, which would require roughly 17 17th-century hogs to be stolen to be considered grand theft today, the punishment for which is a year in prison if the crime is found to be a felony. However, the punishment for stealing two pigs is, -
Act VI, cont'd 2
in colonial times, is 39 lashes, two hours in the pillory and the loss of one's ears. Sounds like overkill, doesn't it? Also, this punishment was only for Africans. If a white stole five hogs, the punishment would be closer to today's. This represents diminishing progress better than many other events because it really shows the sharp, jagged divide that had slowly emerged between the races. -
Conclusion
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -George Santayana
Even though this cycle of diminishing progress existed and ceased to exist over 100 years ago, it is still as relevant today as ever. This is because nobody saw the spiral as it was being formed. Nobody read Act X and thought, "Hmm, this might spark a series of law passages designed to limit a group's rights." It's important because there have been cycles of diminishing progress that were -
Conclusion, cont'd
undetectable until they became unstoppable, like the Holocaust. We must ask ourselves if we are bound to repeat history or to learn from it and stop cycles like these before they start. -
Works Cited
Act X: Source: Hening, ed., The Statutes at Large, vol. 1, p. 226.
Act X Image: http://www.tewksburyrodandgun.org/events/musket.htm
Court Case A Source: Source: Susie M. Ames, ed., County Court Records of Accomack-Northampton, Virginia, 1640-1645. Charlottesville, VA. 1973. p. 457.
Court Case A Image: http://www.vlrc.org/
Court Case B Source: Walczyk, Frank V. transcriber, Northampton County Virginia, Orders, Deeds, & Wills, 1651-1654 Book IV. Peter's Row, New York. 1971. Pg. 192-193 -
Works Cited, cont'd
Court Case B Image: http://apublicdefender.com/
Document H image: acltweb.org
Document H: Russell, John H. "Colored Freemen as Slave Owners in Virginia." Journal of Negro History Vol. 1 (June 1916) pg. 234-35.
Introduction image source: http://www.maggiesnotebook.com/2012/08/some-african-slave-history-1st-colonist-to-own-slave-for-life-was-former-black-indentured-servant/
Act VI: Hening, ed., The Statutes at Large, vol.3, p. 179.
Act VI img: http://www.woodfordart.com/Image_Pages/Hog_Pile.htm -
Works Cited, cont'd, cont'd
Quote in Court Case A: Davis, Thomas J,. "Thomas Davis on Anthony Johnson." PBS.org. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2015. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1i3056.html.
