Anthony Johnson

During colonial times, the principle of being a government of laws, not men, meant that the early Africans who had been brought to colonial America and had completed their terms as indentured servants entered an established socio-economic system under English law. For instance, Anthony Johnson was one of the first Africans to arrive in colonial Virginia, and he gained his freedom after serving as an indentured servant until 1635. Moreover, by 1651, Johnson owned 250 acres of fertile land and held five indentured contracts, demonstrating his significant progress and success in this socio-economic system.

Johnson married an African named Isabelle. She gave birth to their son William in 1623 or 1624—the first Afro-English individual born in the American colonies. As was customary in colonial America, William’s birth conferred unto him British subjecthood. And no different from today in the United States, born in colonial America conferred upon the individual—ethnic identity. Moreover, in 1652, a fire caused significant losses for Johnson, who was still married, now with two young daughters. He applied to the colonial court for tax relief, and despite his African origin, Virginia’s colonial court reduced his taxes.

Furthermore, on February 28, 1652, the colonial court exempted Johnson’s wife, Isabelle, and his daughters from paying taxes “during their “natural lives.” At that time, taxes were levied on individuals, not property. Under Virginia’s 1645 Taxation Act, “All negro men and women and all other men from the age of 16 to 60 shall be tithable.” Therefore, the colonial court’s exemption of the Johnson women from paying taxes granted them the same social status as white women, who were not taxed in colonial Virginia. This incident illustrates that free Africans had legal status and rights under England’s common law in early colonial America.

Then, in 1654, Anthony Johnson prevailed in the landmark colonial case of Anthony Johnson v. Robert Parker. This case was significant as it dealt with the evolving status of indentured servitude and the early emergence of lifelong servitude in colonial America. The dispute centered around John Casor, an African laborer whose indentured servant contract was initially owned by Johnson but had been transferred to Parker. Casor claimed that his indentured servitude contract with Johnson had terminated seven years earlier and that he was being held illegally. Parker, siding with Casor, persuaded an illiterate Johnson to release him, arguing that keeping someone in servitude past their term was a grave offense with severe consequences. However, Johnson later discovered that Casor had signed a new indentured agreement with Parker and came to believe that he had been tricked. Determined to reclaim Casor, Johnson brought the matter to court.

Virginia’s colonial court initially ruled in favor of Parker, but Johnson appealed. In 1655, the colonial court reversed its ruling and found that Casor was Johnson’s servant for life under England’s common law. Parker was ordered to pay court fees and return Casor to Johnson. This decision marked an early instance of the shift from indentured servitude to lifelong servitude, which eventually led to the extralegal institutionalization of slavery in Virginia.

Further, in sustaining Johnson’s claim against Parker, the colonial court established that black colonials and Africans who were conferred British subjecthood could bring lawsuits in colonial courts and prevail under England’s common law.

Landholding by free Negroes, along with their treatment in colonial courts, such as in Anthony Johnson’s application for tax relief and his civil case to recover his indentured servant Casor during the mid-1650s, is significant because it established the normal social status accorded to people of African ancestry who became British subjects. These events in the 1650s demonstrated that free Africans in the colony of Virginia could own property and seek legal redress in colonial courts, which was practically and theoretically incompatible with a system of racial repression.

However, by the 1660s, the racial climate in Virginia had shifted significantly. After Johnson died in 1670, the colonial court ruled that he was a “Negro,” and, therefore, considered an alien, rendering him ineligible to own land. As a result, Johnson’s family did not inherit Johnson’s 250-acre estate. Instead, it was seized by the colonial government and redistributed to white settlers. This marked a significant step toward the institutionalization and disenfranchisement of free black individuals in colonial America.