Captain John Rolfe, Ancient Planter - John Rolfe - Slaveowner?

Started by Andrew Waldo on Saturday, October 19, 2019
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10/19/2019 at 1:21 PM

John Rolfe is well-known as the person to report the arrival of enslaved Africans in Jamestown, in 1619. My questions are,

A) Did Rolfe himself continue the enslavement of any of these individuals in his own tobacco fields?
B) Did Rolfe at any point, even later, use enslaved labor on his land?

Andrew Waldo

10/19/2019 at 2:52 PM

He died in 1621 or ‘22 not long after the Africans arrived. His will does not mention any enslaved people but did say he had three indentured servants.

Carson, Jane. “The Will of John Rolfe.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 58, no. 1, 1950, pp. 58–65. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4245674.

Private User
10/21/2019 at 7:02 PM

He is my 10th GGF. He reported Dutch ships but did so as to hide their true identity. But I believe it has come to light that it was indeed English ships that brought over slaves and NOT Dutch.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/08/24/slaver...

10/22/2019 at 6:18 AM

One thing that everyone forgets is the fact that almost every culture had slaves.

Private User
10/22/2019 at 6:49 AM

Joel (adopted) Yes Sir. And some still do.

10/22/2019 at 7:16 AM

Arthur you are absolutely correct. After having been to 25 countries around the world it is mind blowing how the cultural systems have their beliefs.When I was in Kenya, they would not acknowledge African-Americans, even military.

10/22/2019 at 7:17 AM

Arthur you are absolutely correct. After having been to 25 countries around the world it is mind blowing how the cultural systems have their beliefs.When I was in Kenya, they would not acknowledge African-Americans, even military.

12/6/2021 at 2:53 PM

My 11th GGF Didn't know the history.

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