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AfriGeneas Free Persons of Color Forum
Re: Who were Free People of Color?
In Response To: Re: Who were Free People of Color? ()
James: First, thank for your efforts in bringing our real history to the forefront. I have not done much research on the Silva line, since we appear to not be connected. (ALL) I found a really good book titled "Children of Prediction", http://books.google.com/books?id=eJL8ZfV7fosC&dq=children+of+perdition&pg=PP1&ots=nNmE3tEHCg&sig=dAP1CtNGfRNI7UsOfzOZBknUUk8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result
It is my understanding, VA did not have wide-spread slavery until approx. 1670; nor did it import African slaves directly until the late 1600's. Instead, the VA colony relied on pirating and stealing labor from the Spanish and French. Most of these "Africans" which many authors refer were actually from Spanish, Portuguese and French culture - many the West Indies, some from Europe. I read about people swapping pre-1700, where the VA English swapped 3 VA Native American for 2 West Indies "Africans" - (See the "Indian Slave Trade", for example). To further complaint matter, the concept of "passing for white" does not exist in Spanish culture. As someone else had noted in this forum, only unmixed Africans and the poorest of the poor would have been considered Black. Therefore, as time evolves I am very certain we will unveil more and more slave owning Spanish/Portuguese/French/Africans in the Virginia colony. - Unfortunately.
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