Abstract:

The conflict over race has become ever more bitter in the United States despite numerous civil rights laws, court decisions, and social changes over the years. Some current Black leaders condemn the United States today for many conditions in the Black community, making the argument that chattel slavery began in the United States from the moment the first black was brought to these shores in 1619 and is still the root cause of current social and economic problems.
Using legal environmental analytical methods, this paper looks at the nature of colonial law, international law and the trade practices and customs of that 17th century period and how and because of that, it was in 1655 that chattel slavery first appeared in the English Colonies. Second, this paper finds that the cause of chattel slavery was equally divided between European monarchs, African Warlords, and the Americas in a process that was call “Triangle Trade” and except for the African tribes living near powerful warlords, there were no innocent parties.
Finally this paper exams the case of Anthony Johnson v. Robert Parker, which legalized chattel slavery in the Colonies, and is a case which has received remarkably little attention or even mention in the discussion of slave laws or race relations in the United States.