First Africans in Virginia marker
This sign marks the location of the first recorded instance of enslaved Africans being brought to the American colonies, when in 1619 the privateer White Lion arrived at Old Point Comfort and traded 20-30 them to settlers on the mainland in exchange for supplies. Although the full legal framework of chattel slavery in what became the United States would not develop for decades, this event is often cited as where it began. Old Point Comfort also provided a commanding view of the mouth of the James River, and was captured by the British during the War of 1812; for this reason, it was subsequently fortified as Fort Monroe, thus setting the stage for one of history's strange little bookends. In December 1861, with the Civil War underway, three escaped slaves, Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend, sought sanctuary in the fort, which had remained under Union control after Virginia's secession. A Virginia officer was sent to Union General Benjamin Butler, in command of the fort, to demand the return of the three men. Butler had no legal authority to free them at the time, under the Fugitive Slave Act then still in effect; but, he realized, he certainly did have the authority to confiscate property being used in service of the rebellion. The men were therefore "contraband of war" and would not be returned to their former masters. Word spread of this novel legalism, and soon thousands of slaves would seek freedom behind Union lines; in this way, slavery in the United States began, and began to end, at almost exactly the same place.
First Africans in Virginia marker
This sign marks the location of the first recorded instance of enslaved Africans being brought to the American colonies, when in 1619 the privateer White Lion arrived at Old Point Comfort and traded 20-30 them to settlers on the mainland in exchange for supplies. Although the full legal framework of chattel slavery in what became the United States would not develop for decades, this event is often cited as where it began. Old Point Comfort also provided a commanding view of the mouth of the James River, and was captured by the British during the War of 1812; for this reason, it was subsequently fortified as Fort Monroe, thus setting the stage for one of history's strange little bookends. In December 1861, with the Civil War underway, three escaped slaves, Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend, sought sanctuary in the fort, which had remained under Union control after Virginia's secession. A Virginia officer was sent to Union General Benjamin Butler, in command of the fort, to demand the return of the three men. Butler had no legal authority to free them at the time, under the Fugitive Slave Act then still in effect; but, he realized, he certainly did have the authority to confiscate property being used in service of the rebellion. The men were therefore "contraband of war" and would not be returned to their former masters. Word spread of this novel legalism, and soon thousands of slaves would seek freedom behind Union lines; in this way, slavery in the United States began, and began to end, at almost exactly the same place.