Slavery on the Eastern Shore Historical

Slavery on the Eastern Shore Historical (HM1V4G)

Location: Cape Charles, VA 23310 Northampton County
Buy Virginia State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 37° 13.727', W 76° 0.198'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 2512 views
Inscription
During the early decades of the l7th century, natives of Angola were brought to the Caribbean islands to work on the tobacco and sugar plantations. From there they were brought to Virginia. In 1619 a Dutch man-o-war ship brought the first Negroes numbering about "20 and odd" to Virginia at Point Comfort near the mouth of the James River. Records do not show when the first Negroes were carried to the Eastern Shore; however, none were listed in the musters for 1624/25 nor for 1625/26. By 1635 several were indicated as headrights but the numbers were few. Until late mid-century, energetic slaves could purchase their freedom and some few even earned enough to buy land. Thus small group of free black planters lived side by side with their white neighbors.

In 1655 John Custis II owned five slaves and nine indentured servants. By 1677 he had increased his holdings to 17 slaves, very probably to help build the Arlington mansion. As he bought more land, he also bought more slaves. The descendants of some of those slaves, known as the Custis Slaves, lived in the Old Plantation Creek area until the beginning of the 20th century.

Later, during the l8th century, the Royal African Company, which had been established by Parliament in 1762, began to send large shipments of slaves from the west coast of Africa directly to the Chesapeake
Bay. Combined with the declining supply of British indentured servants and the start of a 30-year depression in the tobacco market, the shift to slave labor as a more available and manageable labor force was inevitable. Laws later passed by the colony made life increasingly harsh for slaves.
Details
HM NumberHM1V4G
Tags
Placed ByArlington Foundation, Inc
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Monday, October 17th, 2016 at 9:05am PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 410997 N 4120724
Decimal Degrees37.22878333, -76.00330000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 37° 13.727', W 76° 0.198'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds37° 13' 43.62" N, 76° 0' 11.88" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)757
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 2116-2240 County Rd 644, Cape Charles VA 23310, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. Is this marker part of a series?
  2. What historical period does the marker represent?
  3. What historical place does the marker represent?
  4. What type of marker is it?
  5. What class is the marker?
  6. What style is the marker?
  7. Does the marker have a number?
  8. What year was the marker erected?
  9. This marker needs at least one picture.
  10. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  11. Is the marker in the median?