The First Africans in Virginia

What happened

In late August 1619, an English privateer, the White Lion, landed 'twenty and odd' enslaved Africans — captives from the kingdom of Ndongo in West Central Africa — at Point Comfort, near Jamestown, where they were traded for supplies. They were the first recorded Africans in England's mainland American colonies.

Why it matters

1619 marks the beginning of the race-based slavery that would define much of American history. Over the next two and a half centuries, the labor and bondage of enslaved people built enormous wealth and left a wound the nation is still reckoning with.

Sources

• National Geographic. In 1619 enslaved Africans first arrived in colonial Virginia. Here's the history. · Reputable source