He Fought Relentlessly Against Becoming The First Enslaved Man In America

Black History Year

PushBlack

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2023

⏱️ 3 minutes

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Summary

Before enslavement was officially established in America, landowners would contract "indentured servants" - of any race - to work their land. If indentured servants survived the grueling seven years their contracts mandated, they were given their freedom and 50 acres of land. Not so for John Casor.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Before enslavement was officially established in America, land owners would contract indentured
0:12.1	servants of any race to work their land.
0:16.4	If indentured servants survived the grueling seven years their contract mandated.
0:21.8	They were given freedom and 50 acres of land, but not so for John Cason.
0:29.7	This is two-minute black history, what you didn't learn in school.
0:47.0	John Cason's landowner tried extending his contract period forever.
0:53.7	Cason refused and left for paid work elsewhere.
0:57.4	Things were going smoothly until the sheriff arrived.
1:01.2	Cason was arrested and tried for breach of his original contract.
1:06.1	He demanded justice in court explaining that his original contractor was extending his
1:11.5	contract unfairly.
1:13.8	He couldn't believe the judge's response.
1:17.2	The judge cited with Cason's original boss ruling that Cason's contract could be extended
1:23.4	for the rest of his life.
1:26.2	This 1655 legal ruling was one of the most devastating in black history, as Cason became
1:33.9	the first legally enslaved black person in America on this day.
1:52.3	His heartbreaking ruling helped enforce racial hierarchy within America, with enslaved black
1:59.0	people at the bottom.
2:01.2	The legacy of that ruling continues to reverberate into the present.
2:06.0	While we're no longer legally enslaved, we must continue to fight unfair treatment of
2:11.8	our people and demand justice in Cason's memory.
2:17.0	In order to move towards the future, you've got to look to the past.
	...

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