Why we should remember 1619
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Enslaved Africans were brought to Jamestown. Their descendants have led the fight for freedom.
Four hundred years ago, the first Africans set foot on mainland English America. Held as captives first on a Portuguese slave ship and then an English privateer, they had endured a grueling journey across the Atlantic Ocean during the summer of 1619. They traveled from present-day Angola to Point Comfort, Virginia, where they were sold to the colonists of Jamestown. The arrival of enslaved Africans in colonial Virginia would shape not only the future of Jamestown, but also the subsequent development of the United States.
On this anniversary, we should acknowledge slavery’s deep roots and recognize the significant role captive and free African Americans have played in building the United States of today.
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