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Belafon2/10/2019 9:53:30 am PST

Here’s what the city of Hampton, VA has to say on it’s website:

Were the first Africans indentured servants or enslaved?
The historical record does not say for sure, but most historians agree the vast majority of Virginia’s earliest Africans were enslaved. Certainly, they were enslaved on board the Spanish ship San Juan Bautista. When they arrived in Virginia, they were traded as commodities. There are no historical records to indicate they were given regular indenture contracts used by English servants. Once in Virginia, a few Africans may have been treated in a manner similar to white indentured servants or had an opportunity to earn freedom, but existing records do not indicate this was the experience for most Africans, who were enslaved from the outset.

Considering how quickly the laws were changed, it would probably be hard to argue, if you’re being realistic, that they were ever indentured. In part, did they volunteer to come over?

I’m sure Northam is quoting the history he was taught, without thinking about it.