Today in History: A Man Enslaved

On this day (March Eight) in 1655, a Virginia court ruled that African John Casor was not an indentured servant but a slave for life. This was the first time the courts had made such a declaration. Casor had been owned by a free black man, Anthony Johnson, who initiated his suit when Casor left his service to go and work for another man. Casor claimed that he had worked off his indenture. Johnson claimed there had never been an indenture. In deciding the case for Johnson, the court also affirmed for the first time the right of free blacks to own slaves in Virginia.