The 1619 Project

In the early colonial era, English settlers imported enslaved Africans, mixing forced labor into the very fabric of the fledgling colonies. These first arrivals brought skills, but they were also subjected to brutal laws that defined them as property. Over time, much of the wealth in colonies like Virginia depended on chattel slavery, laying an economic foundation for the new nation.

Slavery soon became more than an economic system; it influenced how colonists viewed liberty itself. White settlers believed their freedom hinged on complete control over the lives of Black men and women they forced to work. This contradiction—championing liberty while upholding bondage—laid the groundwork for a deep hypocrisy in the emerging Republic.

Tensions flared whenever leaders sensed possible revolts. News of enslaved people fighting for independence rippled through the colonies, fueling the fear that their human property might seek a freedom akin to the one colonists wanted from Britain. These anxieties helped propel the call for independence, so the pursuit of the American Revolution and the preservation of slavery were, in some cases, intertwined.

When the Declaration of Independence proclaimed inalienable rights, its authors largely excluded enslaved people. This omission was not an oversight—many founders purposely left slavery intact to ensure the colonies’ economic and political stability. As a result, core documents like the Constitution subtly enshrined the protectiveness of enslavement without ever using the word.

Even well-known revolutionaries worried they could not maintain economic prosperity without forced labor. In Virginia, where the majority of founding leadership emerged, affluence and political status often came from the profits of enslavement. Consequently, the new federal framework quietly protected the institution through clauses about militias and property rights.

This constitutional acceptance of slavery had lasting repercussions. It set the stage for centuries of legal and cultural divides over who counted as fully “American.” Over time, Black and white Americans would battle fiercely over these founding contradictions, from whether enslaved people would count toward representation in Congress, to who had the right to vote and defend themselves under law.