![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The overstated significance of 1619-still a common fixture in American history curriculum-begins with the questions most of us reflexively ask when we consider the first documented arrival of a handful of people from Africa in a place that would one day become the United States of America. As a historical signifier, 1619 may be more insidious than instructive. For too long, the focus on 1619 has led the general public and scholars alike to ignore more important issues and, worse, to silently accept unquestioned assumptions that continue to impact us in remarkably consequential ways. Certainly, there is a story to be told that begins in 1619, but it is neither well-suited to help us understand slavery as an institution nor to help us better grasp the complicated place of African peoples in the early modern Atlantic world. Unfortunately, 1619 is not the best place to begin a meaningful inquiry into the history of African peoples in America. The story of these captive Africans has set the stage for countless scholars and teachers interested in telling the story of slavery in English North America. and odd Negroes” arrived off the coast of Virginia, where they were “bought for victualle” by labor-hungry English colonists. ![]()
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