'Landing negroes at Jamestown from Dutch man-of-war, 1619'

Educational value

• This illustration is an interesting secondary source for the year 9 history depth study elective Movement of peoples (1750-1901), which studies the influence of the industrial revolution on the movement of peoples throughout the world, including the transatlantic slave trade. It recognises the significance of the landing as the beginning of African slavery in the English colonies of North America.
• The African men brought to Jamestown in 1619 were described in documents of the time as 'Angolans' but how they came to Virginia is unclear. The generally accepted explanation and the one illustrated here is that they had been on board a Spanish slaving vessel en route to a Spanish-American colony when the vessel was captured by a Dutch man-of-war. Spain and Holland were at war at the time. The Dutch then offloaded the Africans at Jamestown in exchange for provisions.
• The ultimate fate of the African men is also unclear. It is widely believed that they were enrolled as indentured servants, contracted to work for a period of years and then freed. The colony of Virginia had been established only 12 years earlier, in 1607. With the new export crop of tobacco in production by 1619, the need for cheap labour was becoming clear.

Topics American history Slavery English history Maritime history