Giving Birth to a Tradition of Giving

PAST & PRESENT GIVING BIRTH TO A TRADITION

Located on the Eastern Seaboard where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean, Hampton Roads was the landing place in 1619 of the first Africans in British North

America. The descendants of these enslaved Africans, whose number was listed as “20 and odd” became entrepreneurs and landowners, heroes of the American Revolutionary War, and freedom fighters on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. Hampton Roads served as the site of the first southern reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. The generations that followed built Black communities in Hampton Roads, and through perseverance and resilience, laid a path of freedom for Black people in the region.

GIVING BIRTH TO A TRADITION OF GIVING

Hampton Roads has a unique place in the history of Black philanthropy. The traits that characterized Black giving in Hampton Roads throughout its history are visible in communities across the nation even as philanthropic practices grew and evolved over time. Africans brought with them to the new colonies a tradition of giving, caring and sharing. These enslaved people were productive members of Angola’s Ndongo kingdom and spoke either Kimbundu or Kikongo.1

Because the Portuguese required prisoners to be baptized, they may have been Christian as well. Whether baptized or not, the first Africans arriving in Virginia were most likely familiar with Christianity, which was introduced to the Angola region of Africa before the Atlantic slave trade. Many of the first Africans were both multi-lingual and skilled in farming, herding, and blacksmithing.2

The philanthropy of early Blacks was focused on developing and sustaining their communities. This historical narrative highlights examples of Black philanthropy in Hampton Roads: the goals, patterns and practices of the region’s Black communities as they built and supported their communities. The history that began with the first enslaved Africans established a rich legacy for Black giving in Hampton Roads. In a region of many firsts, Black people in Hampton Roads made significant contributions and achieved remarkable accomplishments that not only improved their lives and the wellbeing of their communities but changed the course of history, culture and definitions of freedom and liberty in this country.

THE FIRST AFRICANS

The first Africans in British North America landed at Point Comfort, Virginia, near present day Hampton. Facing harrowing circumstances and enduring unimaginable hardships, these early Africans were enslaved twice. Kidnapped first by the Portuguese, they were marched 200 miles to board an overcrowded slave ship for the long, inhumane journey to Veracruz, Mexico. The Portuguese ship carrying the captives was intercepted by Dutch and English slave traders who then took the enslaved Africans, sailed to Point Comfort, and traded them to Virginia’s first governor for food and supplies. The captured Africans were then dispersed among White plantation owners.

The arrival of Africans in 1619 marked a turning point in what was to become the United States. African skills in construction and agriculture, including the cultivation of tobacco, contributed to the wealth of the new nation. By 1630, racism and slavery were clearly stamped on American soil, as evidenced by increasingly onerous laws and codes hindering Black freedom and threatening the well-being of free Blacks, if not all Blacks.

Debate exists around the exact status of the first Africans, whether it was closer to enslaved or indentured servant. In either case, they were not free, and many turned to the court system to seek freedom for themselves and family members. Free Blacks, and to some extent slaves, engaged in various business activities as early as 1634.3 Among the population of Blacks at the time were tenant farmers, and small holdings in the interior area of Hampton Roads may have belonged to free Blacks.4 Antonio and Mary Johnson arrived as enslaved people several years after the first Africans and both became prosperous. Brought to Virginia in 1621 and 1622, respectively, their slave owner freed them and by the 1630s they were listed as free Blacks raising livestock. They married and became known as Anthony and Mary Johnson. Anthony was a tenant farmer who eventually traded cattle. Twenty years later, the Johnsons owned 250 acres of land and had five Black servants. They had at least three children and eventually moved to Maryland, abandoning their Virginia farm, partly due to harassment by their White neighbors.5

Black giving practices emerged and flourished in the safe social and cultural refuge of the early settlements in Hampton Roads. Less than two decades after the arrival of the first Africans, Virginia passed laws codifying the status of enslaved people. As the importation of enslaved Black populations accelerated, the number of Blacks saw an 80-fold increase over the original “20 and odd.”

WHO WAS ANGELO/ANGELA?

Little is known about the first Africans in Hampton Roads. Angelo (later spelling feminized as Angela) is one exception. In 1625, Angela was one of nine of the first Africans living in Jamestown and the only one identified by name. She was thought to be in her mid-30s. Kidnapped twice, Angela lived through the Middle Passage and then was enslaved as a household servant of Captain William Pierce, Virginia’s future lieutenant governor. In 2017, archaeologists uncovered the foundation of Pierce’s home where Angela worked (Angela’s site), establishing a physical location for one of the nation’s first Africans.6

Angela’s Site Source: Cottman, 2017