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How Did African Americans Come To The Colonies

Decent Essays

The first Africans to arrive in the colonies were not slaves instead they were considered servants just as other Europeans that worked under a contract that would allow them to be free after they have worked for several years. This contract would include land, their freedom, and clothes. Years after, the more Africans that arrived to the colonies the more the Europeans started to recognize slavery, put laws towards the slaves, and treat the Africans like they would treat the Indians like animals.
Antonio Anegro was an African man that was a servant and lived on to get his own land. He eventually changed his name to Anthony Johnson and he got married to another African servant and had children. He and his family were free and had their own land with servants of their own; some servants were white as well some were black. Anthony Johnson is a perfect example on how Africans should have been able to live their lives, instead of the harsh lives of the …show more content…

The Africans were seen as outsiders and strangers that would be perfect for working in the fields and being kept as slaves with no benefits. England had the biggest slave trade in Africa; they would send up to forty-five thousand African slaves each year to the colonies. These African had a hard lifestyle with laws coming each year of what they can and cant do. Some slaves in New York would be allowed to drink and interact with some land owners, until there was an attack that and an African slave was supposedly involved which led to harsher laws and living for the Africans. Some of these laws were outrageous and completely unfair for the African slaves. It was a shame that the grandchildren and great grandchildren of Anthony Johnson who had his own land had to suffer this loss of their land and freedom even though Anthony Johnson was a free

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