Johnson v. Parker

Anthony Johnson, a black Angolan in seventeenth century colonial Virginia, rises from indentured servitude to the height of the planter aristocracy. He acquires an indentured servant of his ... Read allAnthony Johnson, a black Angolan in seventeenth century colonial Virginia, rises from indentured servitude to the height of the planter aristocracy. He acquires an indentured servant of his own. When he loses his servant to a neighboring planter, he sues on the claim that his pri... Read allAnthony Johnson, a black Angolan in seventeenth century colonial Virginia, rises from indentured servitude to the height of the planter aristocracy. He acquires an indentured servant of his own. When he loses his servant to a neighboring planter, he sues on the claim that his prior servant owes him a "lifetime" of servitude and, therefore, cannot be emancipated.