 Slave – a person in servitude as the property of
another person
 Indentured Servant – an unfree laborer who came to
America under contract to work for an employer for a
fixed period of time, often without any pay
 Atlantic Creole – a term used during the European
colonization of the Americas to describe slaves of
mixed white-European and black-African ancestry
 Mulatto – the first-generation offspring of a black
person and a white person
 Anthony Johnson – the first slave owner in America,
and he was black
 Emmanuel Driggus – was an Atlantic Creole in the
mid-17th century who, after 12 years of servitude, was
granted his freedom
 John Punch – a black man, and 1 of the 3 escaped
indentured servants, who was caught and sentenced to
“serve his master for the rest of his life.”
 Frances Driggus – a Virginia slave, and Emmanuel’s
daughter, who fought for slave’s rights to sue in court,
earn wages, and marry.
 Part 1: (play 2:06-10:00)
 Part 2: (play 0:00-3:00)
 Part 3:
 Part 4:
 Part 5:
 Part 6:
“Slavery and the Making of America ... the most powerful and
important television work on the subject since 'Roots'...”
-- 4 STARS ****, DAILY NEWS
SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA tells the broad
story of American slavery in large part through the lives of
individual enslaved men, women and children.
 In 1619, 20 Africans were delivered to the English
colony of Virginia. A few years later 11 more Africans
were brought by the Dutch who ran the colony of New
Amsterdam. Thus began one of the most tragic and
misunderstood chapters in American history.
 Through the lives of Anthony Johnson, John Punch,
Emmanuel Driggus, Frances Driggus, and several
others, this hour tells the complicated story of the
establishment of slavery in America, the transition
from indentured servitude and "half freedom" to
African and African-American enslavement for life.
 Traditionally, Englishmen believed they had a
right to enslave a non-Christian or a captive taken
in a just war. Africans and Indians might fit one or
both of these definitions.
 What if they learned English and converted to
Christianity?
 Should they then be released from bondage and given
"freedom dues?“
 What if, on the other hand, status were determined
not by (changeable ) religious faith but by
(unchangeable) skin color?
 Could these captives then be forever shackled in the
chains of slavery?
 In 1705, Virginia declared that "All servants imported
and brought in this County... who were not Christians
in their Native Country... shall be slaves. A Negro,
mulatto and Indian slave ... shall be held to be real
estate."