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As it turns out, one of the first, if not the first legally recognized slave owner in the country was a free black man.
Anthony Johnson (colonist) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
and why is it that I'm suppose to feel guilty?
Anthony Johnson (colonist) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
When Johnson was released from servitude he was legally recognized as a "free Negro" and ran a successful farm. In 1651 he owned 250 acres and four white and one black indentured servant. In 1653, John Casor, a black indentured servant Johnson had apparently bought in the early 1640s approached Captain Goldsmith claiming his indenture had expired seven years earlier and that he was being held illegally. A neighbor, Robert Parker intervened and Johnson was persuaded to set Casor free. Parker took Casor away to work as a free man on his own plantation. Johnson sued Robert Parker in the Northampton Court in 1654 for the return of Casor. The court initially found in favor of Casor but Johnson appealed and in 1655, the court reversed it's ruling.[9] Finding that Anthony Johnson still "owned" John Casor the court ordered that he be returned with the court dues paid by Robert Parker.[10] 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
and why is it that I'm suppose to feel guilty?