"John Rolfes Letter to Sir Edwin Sandys - 20 odd Negroes" (Essay Sample)

Author's Name Professor's Name Course Name Date Analyzing John Rolfes Letter to England Concerning the 20 and Odd Negroes An indenture is a contract that binds an employee to an employer, clearly stating how duties will be performed and the specific period (Sluiter 397). In his letter to Sir Edwin Sandys, John Rolfes was the first to mention the arrival and sale of Africans for labour, thus resulting in slavery. In Virginia, the knowledge of slavery existed; however, the residents were unfamiliar with the institution's specifics. The use of free labour resulted from the labour and land-intensive cash crop they had introduced and experimented with. The residents, the individuals with large acres of land, acquired large tobacco plantations that required manual labour. However, the country did not have the labour capacity and capability required; hence they sought external unfree labour. Landowners acquired their unfree labour from Africans, especially men, to farm and maintain their tobacco plantations. The binding contract between landowners and Africans was indentured, where the employees worked in the tobacco plantations for five to seven years and when the contract period ended, the employee received a freedom fee. However, in 1619 the demand for labour increased, and Virginia residents who owned tobacco plantations became desperate to acquire free labour. Virginians were not opposed to slavery; they did not have a legal framework for its' utilization (Rolfes 71). John Rolfes's statement indicated that Virginia citizens, especially tobacco plantation owners, did not concur against slavery, but they lacked the legal authority to do practice slavery. Rolfes commented that the Governor and Cape merchant bought twenty and odd Negroes at the best and cheapest rates to work for him. This transaction insinuated that the labour acquired was no longer a contract, but a sale, resulting in slavery. This essay will analyze John Rifles letter to Sir Edwin Sandy and show that these Africans documented in the letter were the first enslaved people in Virginia. These individuals were, in fact, the first slaves in what would become the current United States of America because while men were granted their freedom when their contract was terminated, women were enslaved longer without their consent. In Rolfes letter, he addressed the fact that people, especially plantation owners in Virginia, did not necessarily oppose slavery, but they were forced by the law to comply with the human treatment required. After analyzing the letter, this essay has concluded that the 'twenty and odd Negroes' were the first slaves because they were bought at the best and cheapest rates. The governor and plantation owners bought services without clearly indicating the job requirements and the compensation fee...