Featuring: Larry Kenneth Alexander
Transcript:
Let us begin with a truth too often overlooked or misunderstood. Black America’s history on these shores began in 1619, when 19 Africans arrived in Virginia. They were not slaves but indentured servants, individuals bound to labor for a term, after which they gained their freedom and the rights of Englishmen. Their children, too, were born free, with the unalienable rights promised under the English rule of law. This early chapter in Black history reminds us that America’s foundation did not begin with the absolute and unyielding chains of slavery but with a system of law—English law—that, in principle, promised equality under its governance.
Yet history, as a discipline, was undeveloped then. What came next was not the fault of ignorance but of intentional actions. For while the law was clear, the economic interests of colonial elites were louder, and their power grew unchecked. By the mid-1600s, as England’s grip loosened during its own civil wars, colonial assemblies in America exploited this lack of oversight to pass laws that codified slavery. This marked a pivotal turn—a divergence from the rule of law into racial tyranny. The colonial elite redefined power and freedom in ways that prioritized their economic interests. These laws, born of greed and exploitation, were declared the natural order.
When Parliament passed the American Colonies Act of 1766, it sought to right the course. This act abolished colonial slave statutes that defied the English Bill of Rights of 1689. The courts followed suit with the 1772 ruling by England’s Court of the King’s Bench, declaring that slavery had no legal foundation in the kingdom. Parliament’s legislative sovereignty was affirmed. The message was clear: the principles of English law—the same principles that inspired the Declaration of Independence—condemned slavery and all laws that upheld it.
Yet the patriots of the American Revolution ignored this. Their cry of freedom was not a call for equality or justice but a calculated attempt to shield themselves from Britain’s scrutiny, to protect the very system of exploitation that sustained their wealth. When they rebelled, it was not against tyranny but against the enforcement of a rule of law that would have dismantled slavery itself. This is the uncomfortable truth we must face. The American Revolution was, at its core, a revolt to protect white privilege, not a quest for universal liberty. The Declaration of Independence, with its soaring words of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, excluded Black Americans, whose labor was the foundation of the wealth these revolutionaries sought to protect.
As we reflect on the origins of Black America’s history, we must also confront the legacy of its betrayal. For centuries, the law has been wielded as both a shield and a sword—a shield for those in power and a sword against those they exploited. Yet the law also carries within it the promise of justice, the seeds of a more perfect union. It is this promise that we must reclaim today. Black Americans were never meant to be sidelined in the story of liberty; they were central to it. The fight for freedom did not begin with the Declaration of Independence, nor did it end there. It is an ongoing battle, one that challenges us to reckon with our past, reject the myths that obscure the truth, and build a future where liberty and justice truly belong to all.
Let us stand together, not to rewrite history but to understand it. Let us honor those whose stories have been erased, whose labor built this nation, and whose struggles continue to inspire. And let us ensure that the freedoms promised by law are no longer privileges reserved for the few but rights shared by all. Please share and visit our website at Wells Center on American Exceptionalism and look for future videos in this series.