Pursuit of both liberty and enslavement. Because just a few weeks after that first General Assembly in 1619, a ship arrived carrying stolen African People taken from angola. Here, they were sold and sold again. The first enslaved African People who were not granted the same freedoms that would be given to white land owning colonists. And here those enslaved africans joined the thousands of virginias first people, the members of the Virginian Indian tribes who would also wait centuries to have the same freedoms. So today as we hold these commemorations of the First Representative Assembly in the free world, we have to remember who it included and who it did not. That is the paradox of virginia, of america, and of our representative democracy. A full accounting demands that we confront and discuss those aspects of our history. It demands that we look not just for hundredn time 400 years in the past, but at how our commonwealth and our country evolved over the course of those four centuries. Joining us from Hampton University in virginia is dr. Cassandra newbyalexandra. She serves as the liberal arts dean. We appreciate you being here on cspan television and cspan3s American History tv as we look back at august of 1619. Thank you for being with us. Thank you. In thee is a rehearsal background so you will hear music as well. Be live onwill cspan3s American History tv. Explain the significance of what happened and physically where you are located in terms of what we sell 400 years ago. We saw 400 years ago. Dr. Newbyalexander im here at fort monroe in hampton, virginia. This is the side of what they called old Point Comfort. This is where all the ships coming in from the Atlantic Ocean would first come in. They wouldnt dock, they would offload supplies, and they would offload personnel and others. This site is where the first africans from West Central Africa arrived in the Virginia Colony, also called the Jamestown Colony. This is a significant time. Because this is the beginning of the african presence in what we would later call the United States of america. And we would really see them contributing not only their skills, not only their talents, but also their fight for freedom and equality. It began right here at Point Comfort in hampton, virginia. Host and if you could, explain the journey they took from africa and how they ended up location, Point Comfort in hampton, virginia. Dr. Newbyalexander sure. The portuguese were controlling a port area called lawanda in todays angola. This was the west central coast, where there were a number of kingdoms. One of the most dominant kingdoms was the kingdom of ndongo that would later be led by queen ndzinga, and the other. And the kingdom of the congo. The portuguese were seeking labor and they used mercenaries that they hired to raid villages, towns and cities. It would be in 1619, while the 30 years war was going on between all of the people against spain, such as england and holland, they were fighting their war for dominance. And on the african or west african coast, the West Central African coast, you had a war for dominance as well. Many of these groups were using mercenaries to dominate. So the portuguese used this group and invaded the kingdom of nadongo. They marched captives to the port. They unloaded the ship, where on the san juan bautista, there were about 350 of these captives. These individuals were on ship that set sail to the veracruz port, or they would be sold to People Living in what we called spanish america. And of course, the veracruz coast is mexico today. These individuals had gone through a very perilous journey. A lot of people got sick and died. There were even some offloaded because of their illness in jamaica. As they were headed towards the veracruz port, they were attacked by two english privateer vessels. One, the white lion, captained by a former calvinist minister, and the other is the treasurer, owned by the Virginia Company of london. They seized about 100 captives aboard the two ships and set sail for virginia. Somehow, during that journey, the two ships were separated by three to four days. So the first ship that arrived, the white lion, came here to Point Comfort. John rawls, who had been married to pocahontas and remarried to a woman whose father was william pierce, met the ship. William pierce and john rawls met the ship at Point Comfort. And john recorded that about 20 odd had arrived in august of 1619. These people had been kidnapped twice and ended up on these shores as unfree people. There are a lot of people who refer to them as slaves but i dispute that particular idea. I say they were unfree because they had been free people before their captivity. When they came to the virginia coastline, they were sold as servants. Three to four days later, another ship arrived. The treasurer. It offloaded a few people, total of 32 africans arrived in 1619. About one month after the Virginia Legislature was formed that also created its court system. Years later, that court system would begin to systematically take the human rights away from those first africans, and later, the legislature would continue that process in codifying it into law. We know there were probably about 17 women and 15 men. We dont really know their ages. Probably young, older children, teenagers, young adults who were forced to come here to the virginia colonies and labor, in some cases, for probably about 20 years if they lived that long. Host we are talking with Cassandra Newbyalexander, joining us from hampton, virginia. She is the dean of the college of liberal arts at norfolk state university. We are talking about 400 years ago. You are doing a terrific job with the rehearsal going on in the background. We appreciate you being with us for the next that event will be hour. Live on American History tv on cspan3 in about 15 minutes. Our phone lines are open. 202 7488000 in the eastern or central time zones. For those of you in the mountain or pacific time zones, 202 7488001. Join the conversation. I want to follow up on two quick points. First of all, we talk about the first africans arriving in virginia in what was british north america, but others were arriving in florida, which was a spanish territory. The u. S. Was not formed back then, correct . Dr. Newbyalexander thats correct. Florida would not become a part until 1819. D states while we recognize the fact that there were africans in north america long before 1619, but it would be in 1619, after the formation of a government, that we would begin to see the emergence of a society and culture, and people of african descent were a part of that emerging culture. They contributed not only to our society, their skills, for example. Some were blacksmiths, these were skilled artisans who arrived. They understood architecture, understood agricultural production. In fact, tobacco was the big producer in virginia even though it wouldnt be until the early 18th century that African People would begin to dominate that as forced laborers. But their contributions to the 17th century helped the english to understand the importance of Crop Rotation with tobacco. They also had been producing pipes. Tobacco pipes. So they were part of this Huge Industry of pipe production. You have the english pipe, the native american pipe, and the african pipe. The european population had different preferences depending on where they were, so africans contributed that and contributed their culinary skills. They contributed their techniques for riverboat trading. That is something the english were somewhat unfamiliar with. They were familiar more with oceangoing trading. The africans also brought their understanding of how to blend food together in a way that was unique. We would see the formation for the first time of what we call southern cuisine, emerging in the 17th century. Most importantly, i say the africans help to contribute to our understanding of what freedom really meant. So, this issue of democracy would be very different if it were not for the people of african descent and their fight for not only freedom but citizenship and equality in this country. Im reminded of what the acclaimed writer Ralph Ellison wrote in a 1970 Time Magazine article in which he said what would america be like without africanamericans . I think about all of that when i think about 2019. This 400 year journey that people of african descent have been on in america. It is a story not only of oppression, but more importantly, of perseverance and of accomplishment and of being a part of this American Culture and society. I also think about america, what would america really be like without people of african descent . What would our music sound like . What would our language sound like . What would our sense of style be like without people of african descent . Even the understanding that we have of freedom and equality, and real democracy, what would that be like without people of african descent . I would say it would be very different. Host our guest is a graduate of the university of virginia, earning her doctorate from william and mary. She has written a number of books on slavery and Race Relations in america. I want to get the calls briefly but if you could quickly answer this question. Who was thinking what when they brought slaves or africans as slaves to the virginia colonies . Dr. Newbyalexander i think the people who brought them here were quite aware of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. They were looking for additional laborers. Perhaps it was in their minds that these would be enslaved people. We know they were treated differently from the beginning. Many did not have their names recorded until sometime, in some cases, three to four years later. Even then, the lists were incomplete with names. We know there was an antonian isabella. Many of these people came here fluent and portuguese as well as their native african languages. They seemed to learn english very quickly. Anthony and isabella were owned by captain William Tucker. What is interesting about the relationship was that captain William Tucker became the godfather to their son who is named after him, William Tucker. In the court records, it indicated that captain tucker was this young mans godfather, which means that godfather was never enslaved, that that child was never in bondage because his status took after that of his godfather. He was protected and that status because of the status of his godfather, who was a prominent planter, who was living in the Indian Village that the english took over that we call hamptons, virginia today. We know also there was a woman in the record who was listed as angela, which i understand is a portuguese name which could be masculine or feminine, which is why many people refer to her as angela. Historic jamestown is in the process of excavating around the home she lived in because she was owned by william pierce, who was the fatherinlaw of john rawl. We know from the records that she worked along with william pierces wife on a garden that was about four acres and she , kept the pigs in that area. That suggests she was very much involved with introducing culinary practices that she was familiar with from West Central Africa to that family household, which was a prominent household. They were living in what we called, at that time, new jamestown, which was a settlement, a town outside of the fort of jamestown. She was also that particular war. Had a huge goods and products not only came into the colony from the war, wharf, but it left that wharf as well. So she was in the mix of what was happening in the Virginia Colony. We know there was a man by the name of Anthony Johnson, and his wife mary, both from and go look. From angola. The two of them would gain their freedom after 20 years, which is the typical time that if you did not have a contract, if you are not an indentured servant, you were simply referred to as a servant, and you would not serve more than 20 years. That was considered a lifetime servitude if it was more than 20 years. They were living on the bennetts plantation, located on the james river. They gained their freedom, also gained land as part of the system given to all servants who had completed their years of servitude, and their land was on the eastern shore. They became prominent landowners. We know this from the court records. They named their plantation angola, in remembrance of their homeland. Their family prospered. But the courts and the virginia legislative body changed the law. At the time Anthony Johnson was to become a free holder, which means a voter, they made it white only. But he was a prominent individual. He owned both black and white servants. He was a person who actually fought through the courts for his rights as a citizen of the colony. Host we know the Tucker Family cemetery is not far from where you are located in hampton, virginia. You are at the Fort Monroe National memorial. It was designated by barack dedicated by barack obama reflecting on what happened in as the first africans arriving 1619 in virginia. That is our focus. Mary is joining us from martinsville, virginia. Good morning. Caller i have often thought some of the people that captured the africans to be sold to the portuguese were africans themselves. Would you like to comment on that . Host thank you, mary. Dr. Newbyalexander sure. We have this homogenized view when we think of africans, yet when we think of europeans, we recognize the ethnic differences, the different kingdoms and nationstates, but we dont have, in American Society, a familiarity with the same kind of thing on the continent of africa. This is the second largest continent on the planet. This is a continent with a very diverse ethnic compilation of people, different nationstates, some of which were warring against each other. So when we talk about africans enslaving other africans, i think we need to also talk about how many of the europeans enslaved other europeans. When you think of the word slave, it comes from slav. So there were europeans who had been enslaving other europeans for centuries. The same thing was true on the continent of africa where people who were captured in war were often enslaved, but enslaved did not always have the same meaning on that particular continent. In fact, some people who were of aved became wives prominent individual. Some of the people became the children who would be the inheritors of property. So, that term had a very different meaning. But in the case of those who would be transported through the Transatlantic Slave Trade, you started to see, by the 17th century, these wars to acquire slaves. And, these wars were conducted by many mercenary groups who were being paid. They were outside of the traditional structure of nationstates. They were simply in it for the money. They were attacking these people and capturing them, and putting them in that transatlantic slave system, in exchange for money or in exchange for weapons and other resources. I hope that helps to provide some Contextual Understanding of what was happening on the continent. Host and of course, 1619, when the first africans arrived in virginia, more than 225 years later, where you are located served as a key battleground point for the north and south during the height of the civil war. Lets go to chris in alexandria, virginia. Good morning. Caller good morning. My question is to the professor. You are saying your whole presentation here is denoting that these were the first africans, the first time africans were found in america when, actually, and you try to make a distinction between the spanish and english, but really, to the african enslaved people, and i use enslaved because that is the proper term, they were free and then they were brought over here. What was Anthony Daviss real name that his parents gave him . The fact that you are using anthony davis, johnson, whatever it is, that is a name given to him in slavery. My question is, the africans that were in florida, for example, in 1500 something, how can we perpetrate this so called commemoration which is really a memorial of 1619 being the first . Thank you. Host thank you so much. Prof. Newbyalexander thank you for your question. No one is denying there were not africans on the north American Continent prior to 1619. The idea really is that even though they were down in florida, that was an area dominated by the spanish. So, this commemoration is about the africans who arrived in the Virginia Colony, also called the Jamestown Colony. The Jamestown Colony was started in it was the first colony, the 1607. First permanent english settlement. From that colony, we would grow into the 13 original colonies, but not until the 19th century would florida become a part of the american nationstates nationstate. So, this commemoration is about what happened right here in virginia, in the first colony, and that is why the specific statement is usually the first africans who arrived in the english, north american colony, which is of course the virginia or Jamestown Colony. Ope that clears it up good it up. That does not mean anyone is disputing the accomplishments or story of those who were in florida, which is also an important story. Host as you pointed out, there were a few dozen that arrived initially in august of 1619, believed to be around this state that this date 400 years ago. Looking at some of the numbers in terms of the slave population in the u. S. In the 1700s and 1820, 1. 5 million. At the start of the civil war, about 1861, about the new york 4 million. Times cover story is recently looking at the 1619 project, saying on this 400th anniversary of this fateful moment, it is finally time to tell this story truthfully. Joe is joining us from eastpointe, michigan. Good morning. Caller good morning. I would like to comment on an aspect of this slavery thing that is really covered. That is that at least 40,000 plus slaves were owned by free blacks in the antebellum south. I have a good book called the free negro. He lists all of the black slaveowners who owned other blacks. Just a comment. That is rarely ever talked about. So, black people in the south did participate in slavery themselves. Some owning up to 5055 slaves and they were not all family members. Case, i lived my entire life as a black man, up to 75 years. Im in my mid80s, and i found out about 10 years ago i am scotch irish. We did a dna test on both sides, mitochondrial and y chromosome. It was all over europe. Not one hit from the african continent. Then we did my mothers dna, and that was mostly from germany. And a lot of ashkenazis in there. I should be able to sue somebody for the [indiscernible] but of course, that is impossible. Just a common it is really discussed and i thank you. I will listen. Prof. Newbyalexander let me prof. Newbyalexander let me comment on the idea of some africans who were prof. Newbyalexander let me comment on the idea of some africans who were africanamericans who were owning other africans or africanamericans. We know that the slave system that would be put in place here in virginia as well as other places was about economics, clear and simple. Many people who were part of the Transatlantic Slave Trade were from different ethnic groups. I think we have to sort of disassociate this homogenous idea that all africans call themselves the same, to understand that economies of slavery demarcated how you would view people. In virginia, we had some black slaveholders in the colonial period as well as the antebellum period. They owned people purely for economic purposes. They were always very small in number, and that was, in their minds, to compete with other with the economies going on here. The majority of black slaveholders owned family members because by the end of the colonial years going into the antebellum period, you had more rights to protect your family members if they were enslaved, if you are the owner, as opposed to if you are all free. We would also see states like virginia passing laws by the early 1800s stating that, if you are recently free, you had a year to get out of the state. If you didnt get out of the state, you would become a slave again. Family people held members as well as others that they were associated with as enslaved people by the document only but not in terms of how they live their lives or practiced what they would do in their life. So, you kind of have to look at each situation to determine what kind of real reason was behind the ownership of enslavement. Host our guest is Cassandra Newby alexander. There was rain in the forecast and a looks like the weather will hold out for those in attendance. We appreciate you being with us at Point Comfort. You from share with the New York Times sunday magazine, a look at a letter from Plantation Hills farm in mississippi. You can see the slaves listed as their value and information about them. Place,om an exhibit in karen sherry from the new England Museum of culture, taking a look at a new exhibit, determined the 400 year struggle for black equality. Lets watch. [video clip] we often dont have archaeological or documentary evidence that these early people of african descent in virginia. The exposition tries to evoke what their experiences would have been like with related objects. There are two items excavated from other early 17th century virginia plantations. They are typical of what was probably in captain william the kindhousehold and of items angela probably works with. Hoe fors a grub gardening and a ceramic pot used for food preparation. There is also this extraordinary gourd fiddle. It dates from the 19th century, but it represents the important impact that african culture had on American Culture, particularly American Music. This fiddle is made out of a gourd, and that is a traditional kind of instrument used in west african culture for centuries and centuries. And west african musical traditions were brought to american shores by the captive africans who were brought here. They ended up having a profound impact on American Music and other cultural forms, such as food ways, language, and so forth. Fiddle is meant to represent the beginning of the influence of african culture on the development and the creation of a unique and a mixed American Culture, a culture that derives from european, native american, as well as africanamerican tradition. Host from museum of history and three culture, and karen sherry with a bit of a tour. I want to get back to what it was like when they first arrived here and what was the english territories in 1619. I know there is no record, you do not have a lot of information, but as somebody who has researched this, but any guidance on what these boys and girls were going through . Prof. Newbyalexander this was still a colony in flux. While the colony itself was dominated by englishmen and of course by the following year, in 1620, more english women were coming in, the surrounding population that dominated virginia were native peoples, and they were hostile to the english. In fact, they thought the english were going to leave pretty soon, and when they continued to stay and grow in size, that is when they decided to attack the colonies. So it really started, some of the attacks, in 1619, but the big war started in 1622 and lasted for about 20 years. So life was very uncertain in the colony while it continued to grow incrementally. People would have to go through a period of adjustment. And if you can imagine, here you are, the first probably 32 africans who arrived here, you had to adapt. You have been kidnapped twice. You had to adapt to a new environment, a new language, a new culture, and somehow, many of them were able not only to survive but to thrive. They chose to thrive. They chose to have children, in many cases. Some of them were segregated on plantations, like angela, she was the only one on that particular plantation who was of african descent. Others who were on governor yardleys plantation, there were about eight of them there that managed to form a small, closeknit community. These individuals had to adjust to a new life, a new world, and to new people. They had to adjust to the native populations, and many natives were living within the confines of the Virginia Colony. The Historical Records often exclude natives from our story line. In fact, i have been saying that in most cases, the moment pocahontas died, we stopped talking about native americans in virginia, and archaeologists are finding that many lived inside of the ford. The fort. Many lived inside the town we call new jamestown. They continued to live in the Indian Village of kikkitan, which we call today hampton. They continued to live along the york and jasmine rivers. They continued to, in some cases, thrive, but eventually the contact with diseases and the warfare and so forth reduced their populations. In addition to that, some of them were captured and sold into slavery. Some of them began intermarrying with not only the europeans but also the africans. This was a very fluctuating time period. It conflicted with how people related to each other in some cases, like in the case of john punch, who was classified as an african servant who ran away with two white indentured servants, which means that his relationship was very close to these individuals. They were captured, and all three of them were whipped, because they tried to run away, but only john punch was given as a punishment lifetime indentured servitude, while the two whites about two years added onto their indentured service. So these fragments that we have in the record tells us that our perception of that time period is probably not the way it actually happened. That people are people, and that the people who were closest, were those who worked closely together, the white and a black servant. But you did have those who had huge plantations. They dominated the area. They were the ones who began to set the tone for the laws, set the tone for the kind of racialism that would emerge very quickly in the law, that began to strip away the human rights of those of african descent. And i usually point to the 1669 law that the Virginia Assembly passed, that allows for the casual killings of people of african descent by their owners if they resisted in any way, and that law would be expanded in 1672 to include any white person able to kill a person of african descent if they resisted in some form or fashion. So this kind of a racialized system of laws, and many other examples, would really take hold by the 1660s, 1670s in virginia, and we would see the same thing duplicated in the colony of plymouth and massachusetts bay, that would become massachusetts. In fact, massachusetts actually passed the first slave law in the american colonies in 1641. Virginia would pass it in 1662. We would see the same thing happen in connecticut, in maryland, in the carolinas, both north and South Carolina, and in other places. And so virginia really was the source of so much. In fact, the Virginia Colony had the largest number of people of african descent than any of the other colonies in the 17th century, and they would continue to have the largest number. That number would grow, which is why so many, by the time we get into the latter part of the 18th and early 19th century, so many, through the domestic slave trade, would be sold from virginia, moved into the territories of kentucky and tennessee, and going on finally over to the Mississippi River area, where you have louisiana, mississippi, east texas, and so forth. And so recognizing this history and understanding that these people who arrived in 1619 by force, that they somehow were able to persevere. They somehow were able to construct families and to construct a life for themselves, even in the midst of severe oppression, and they continued to fight for that freedom and fight for that liberty. And you mentioned earlier that we are also at the site where the first contraband declaration was made, and i want to remind all of the viewers that to visit hampton and to be sure to visit a tree, a very special tree that is on Hampton Universitys campus. It is called emancipation oak, and president of barack obama took a seedling from emancipation oak and planted it on the grounds of the white house, and that tree was here. It was alive, it was growing in 1619 when the first africans were forced to arrive, and that tree became a symbol, because it was under that tree that people gathered to hear the emancipation proclamation read in january of 1863. So this is a very special place, it is a very historic place, it is a place that really highlights a very important history in American Society and culture. Host as we look back at 400 years ago, and of course there are markers in hampton, virginia to commemorate exactly what happened in slavery would not be 1619. Abolished until 1865. Our guest is Cassandra Newbyalexander, the dean of norfolk state universitys college of liberal arts, an expert on this topic. She has written a number of books. We have a couple of minutes left. If you hear music in the background, that is the rehearsal for a ceremony that is scheduled to get underway shortly. It will be live on cspan3s American History tv. Alexander is joining us from durham, North Carolina. A quick question or comment . Caller yes sir. My quick question, actually i have two. You said the estimated 4 million in 1860, what would you say a part of that being the native American Population amalgamated into the africanamerican estimate . And then what did they do with the ships . Host thank you. Prof. Newbyalexander so to answer the native american question, it really is undetermined. I know that there is some dna testing that is going on. I question the accuracy of some of it, because it is very difficult to get what we call unfiltered dna from native populations coming out of virginia and North Carolina. They are finding traces in many africanamericans who are from virginia and from North Carolina and maryland and so forth, they are finding a lot of traces. In terms of i am not remembering what the second question was, so if you could repeat that, i would appreciate it. Host what happened to the ships . Is there any uh, are there artifacts . There are none. The white lieon went back to england. It was owned by a prominent englishmen. And the treasurer, that ship actually sank. There is some dispute as to whether or not it sank in bermuda or if it sank off the coast of virginia. I know there are some archaeologists trying to locate the remnants of the treasure, but both ships are no longer in existence. Host this is a drawing of what that ship might have looked like, the white lion. As we go to matt in baltimore, maryland. Go ahead, please. Caller thank you for putting me on. I am so fascinated by ms. Newbyalexanders presentation. I would just like to stress one thing. Previously a gentleman who lived as a black found he had much ancestry from europe. It is very important for example, congressman ellisons great, greatgrandfather was a free black who operated a factory that promoted slavery by manufacturing cotton picking machines. Im sorry, i am the cotton gin. He produced over 1000 of them, which made slavery economical for growing cotton, which was dying in the United States and would have had a huge impact on the ending of slavery. Further, if she stressed that more, i believe it would give the black population of how an understanding of how universal acts of slavery were and there was not the hatred that is promoted by the people that are trying to divide us as a country. Host thank you for the call, matt. Dean newbyalexander well, you know, what is very interesting is that tobacco the Tobacco Industry dominated even through the 20th century in virginia and North Carolina, as well as in maryland. Cotton production dominated in the western part of North Carolina the western part of South Carolina all the way into georgia and all the way through two east texas. On the east coast of South Carolina, that is where rice dominated. For the industries produced by slave labor really was the foundation of colonial american economy. And it really is in the antebellum period that the colonial excuse me, the end of the 18th century when the cotton gin was actually distributed. There is a lot of evidence that , who got the contract to produce the cotton gin, he was an inventor, that he got the idea from an enslaved man who was already creating an instrument to extract the seeds from the cotton, making it productive. But the cotton gin really distributed the population. It encourage the westward movement and the taking over of lands from native americans by the American Population and thereby expanding slavery. And so i think when we look at the industries that started in the colonial years and continued and expanded in the antebellum years, it gives us a much greater understanding and context for the value of slavery in america and how it built the economy of america. In fact, america in the 1860s produced 7 8 of the worlds cotton production. That the value of slavery, the people who were involved in the system, as well as what they produced was valued more than any of all of Americas Industries combined, and so without that system, america would be a very different place. And so it has a lot of negative consequences for people of african descent, because they were seen as a commodity, but had a lot of positive consequences for the nation, in terms of its economy, which is why so many people of african descent are demanding reparations, because they were not allowed to share in the wealth and the products of their labor. Host lets go to dolores in gaffney, South Carolina. Welcome to the conversation, dolores. Caller thank you. I want to know two things. I know sometimes we jump into the middle of the views, the perspective of enslavement, but how the enslavement for africanamericans to come to the south or just to be enslaved, where is that originality . Where does that start . Was it on this continent . There are some things missing about slavery. I would like to know that. Host thank you, dolores. We will get a response. Dean newbyalexander so, you know, there is a myth that slavery only existed in the south. Slavery was legal everywhere. Massachusetts, for example, in the colonial period, 26 of the population was enslaved. And that does not include the small population of free blacks that existed there. The same thing was true in pennsylvania. 27 of the population was enslaved in the colonial period. In new york, the same thing. Of course new york had been the amsterdam,y of new which included new york and new jersey. A high population of enslaved people there. In fact, an enslaved man who worked the docks of new york and escaped to boston was involved with the boston massacre, was the first person killed during that massacre in 1770. So when we think about slavery, our textbooks do us a disservice for the k12, because they do not Start Talking about slavery until they talk about the south, when slavery was legal everywhere. The u. S. Constitution, both the articles of confederation as well of the 1789 constitution, validated slavery for the nation. So even with the dredd scott versus sanford decision, the chief justice said because the constitution allows slavery in the nation in the United States, no state could actually bar slavery. And so this is what helped to really create a lot attention, which would lead to the civil war, because states such as massachusetts through a court case that eliminated slavery by the 1780s there, other states gradual emancipation laws, that would eliminate slavery within a period of 20 to 30 years, though states did not want to return to a system of legalized slavery within the borders of their state. So that is what created so much tension in the nation, because not that many of the whites in those states were in favor of free blacks expanding and living as equal citizens in those states, but rather they did not want to have to compete with slave labor. So you have some, a small group of people called white abolitionists who were against slavery, but the majority of the white population in the Northern Areas simply did not want to have to compete with slave labor. And so that is where the tensions began to emerge. That is also where the stereotypes about slavery only existing in the south also began to emerge. Host let me call upon your earlier point, because the century and a half after those first africans arrived in virginia, when the constitution was enacted in 1777, were there any dissenting voices that said this is morally wrong, we need to end it . Dean newbyalexander yes, there were. Some of the earliest abolitionist societies were already in existence in philadelphia and other places. Some prominent whites, like benjamin franklin, were members of that. What some of them wanted to do was to send africans back to africa. Of course, many africanamericans were refusing because they were already born in america. They were the byproduct of many ethnic groups, so where exactly in africa would they go back to . And their labor and the labor of their ancestors helped to build the nation, so they refused the notion of that idea and they were offended by that idea that somehow they were not citizens, equal citizens in this country. So i hope that kind of addresses that issue. Host we have been talking to Cassandra Newby alexander. She is the author of a number of books on Race Relations, including virginia waterways and the undergroundd railroad. She is the dean of the college of liberal arts at norfolk state university. Shes joining us in hampton, virginia. Thank you for joining us on cspan and cspan3s American History tv. And thank you for doing such a marvelous job as we hear the rehearsals for the ceremony going on in the background. Dean newbyalexander thank you so much, and i hope everybody comes to the region to learn a little bit more about our American History. Guest host and in half a minute, what do you think the ceremony will mean for those in attendance and those watching . Dean newbyalexander i think that this will be a watershed moment where america begins to recognize the importance of 1619, commemorating 400 years of african and africanamerican perseverance in American Society. That we will stop excising enslavement, oppression from our understanding of the american story, and we would begin to recognize it and also commemorate those individuals who survived a very, very treacherous period in American History. Host professor, author, and dean, Cassandra Newbyalexander, thank you for being with us. Dean newbyalexander thank you. [applause]