The First Enslaved People Arrive from Africa

• When did the first enslaved Africans arrive in Jamestown, Virginia?

  1619
• How were the first Africans in Jamestown initially treated?


  As indentured servants, required to work off a debt to gain freedom.
• What significant change occurred over time regarding the status of Africans in Jamestown?


  Africans were eventually deemed enslaved for life.
• Who was John Punch?


  A Black servant who ran away with two white European servants in 1640.
• What happened to John Punch after he was caught in 1640?


  He was sentenced to lifelong servitude, marking the first documented case of permanent slavery.
• What is the historical significance of John Punch’s case?


  It marks the first documented case of a sentence to lifelong slavery in the American colonies