First Africans Arrive in Virginia
1619 · Early Modern
In late August 1619, the English privateer ship White Lion arrived at Point Comfort (present-day Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia) carrying "20 and odd" Africans who were traded for provisions. These Africans, originally from the Kingdom of Ndongo in Angola, had been captured by Portuguese slave traders and were being transported on the Portuguese slave ship São João Bautista when they were seized by English privateers. This marked the first documented arrival of Africans in English North America.
Key Figures
John Colyn JopeGeorge YeardleyAbraham PeirseyWilliam TuckerLuis Mendes de Vasconçelos
Locations
Point ComfortKingdom of Ndongo
Topics
slaveryblack historyUSA
Connected Events — 3 Connections
Establishment of African slavery in English North America beginning at Virginia created the enslaved population whose descendants organized the Stono Rebellion Stono Rebellion
Jamestown tobacco economy created the labor demand that made the 1619 purchase of enslaved Africans from English privateers commercially viable Jamestown is Founded
Portuguese transatlantic slave trade created the trafficking networks through which Angolan captives aboard the Sao Joao Bautista were seized and brought to Virginia The Transatlantic Slave Trade Begins
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