By Walter White Jr., 1968
 The story of the slaves in America begins with Christopher Columbus. His voyage to America was not financed by Queen Isabella, but by Luis de Santangelo, who advanced the sum of 17,000 ducats (about 5,000 pounds-today equal to 50,000 pounds) to finance the voyage, which began on August 3, 1492. Columbus was accompanied by five 'maranos' (Jews who had foresworn their religion and supposedly became Catholics), Luis de Torres, interpreter, Marco, the surgeon, Bemal, the physician, Alonzo de la Calle and Gabriel Sanchez (1).Gabriel Sanchez, abetted by the other four Jews, sold Columbus on the idea of capturing 500 Indians and selling them as slaves in Seville, Spain, which was done. Columbus did not receive any of the money from the sale of the slaves, but he became the victim of a conspiracy fostered by Bemal, the ship's doctor. He, Columbus, suffered injustice and imprisonment as his reward. Betrayed by the five maranos (Jews) whom he had trusted and helped. This, ironically, was the beginning of slavery in the Americas (2).The Jews were expelled from Spain on August 2, 1492, and from Portugal in 1497. Many of these Jews emigrated to Holland, where they set up the Dutch West Indies Company to exploit the new world.
In 1654, the first Jew, Jacob Barsimson, emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam (New York) and in the next decade many more followed him, settling along the East Coast, principally in New Amsterdam and Newport, Rhode Island. They were prevented by ordinances issued by Governor Peter Stuyvesant from engaging in the domestic economy, so they quickly discovered that the territory inhabited by the Indians would be a fertile field. There were no laws preventing the Jews from trading with the Indians.
The first Jew to begin trading with the Indians was Hayman Levy, who imported cheap glass beads, textiles, earrings, armbands and other cheap adornments from Holland which were traded for valuable fur pelts. Hayman Levy was soon joined by Jews Nicholas Lowe and Joseph Simon. Lowe conceived the idea of trading rum and whiskey to the Indians and set up a distillery in Newport, where these two liquors were produced. Within a short time there were 22 distilleries in Newport, all of them owned by Jews, manufacturing and distributing 'firewater.' The story of the debauching of the Indians with its resultant massacres of the early settlers, is a dramatic story in itself
1619: the Dutch begin the slave trade between Africa and America 1621: Holland forms the Dutch West India Company to invade the Spanish and Portuguese colonies and takes control of Guyana (colonies of Demerara, Essequebo, and Berbice)
1621: The state of Maranhao is separated from Brazil with a governor in Sao Luis
1623: The Dutch seize Bahia from Portuguese Brazil with help from the Portuguese Jews and expand in the Northeast
1624: The Catholic Church foments anti-government riots in Ciudad de Mexico
1629: Brazilian paulistas/mamelucos (slave gatherers) attack the Jesuit missions
1629: The Dutch conquers Pernambuco from Portugal
1631: To escape the Brazilian paulistas/mamelucos, the Jesuit missions of Paraguay/Argetina move inland and found Candelaria
1635: France conquers Martinique, Guadeloupe and Dominique 1637: Holland captures Portugal's main trading post in Africa, Elmira . Marriage of John Bass and Elizabeth Tucker
On 14 August 1638, John Bass, a settler in Norfolk County, Virginia, married a local woman, Keziah Elizabeth Tucker. She was the daughter of a baptized Christian Nansemond leader known as Robin. Bass was born 7 September 1616. Both Robin and his daughter Elizabeth were converts to Christianity. [6] They received English names at their baptisms. Some Nansemond claim descent from this marriage. [4] Based on her research, Dr. Helen C. Rountree says that all current Nansemond descend from this marriage, making the tribe a family affair. [5] Paul Heinegg traced the family, noting that some descendants married into white families, while others married into African-American ones, becoming part of each culture. In the 18th century, both William Bass (son of John) and his son William Bass obtained certificates certifying they were only of English and Nansemond descent. [6]
A Nansemond family from Norfolk County, VA at the beginning of the 20th century.
The photo at left shows members of the Weaver and Bass families, ca. 1900:
"William H. Weaver is sitting; Augustus Bass is standing behind him. The Weaver family were indentured East Indians (from modern-day India and Pakistan) who were free in Lancaster County by about 1710. By 1732 they were "taxables" [note: free blacks and Indians had to pay a tax in Virginia and North Carolina] in Norfolk County and taxable " Mulatto" landowners in nearby Hertford County, North Carolina by 1741. By 1820 there were 164 "free colored" members of the [Weaver] family in Hertford County. In the 1830s some registered as Nansemond Indians in Norfolk County." (photo, Smithsonian Institution, "Nansemond Indians, ca. 1900.")
In the late 20th century, Paul Heinegg's extensive research in colonial records revealed the origins of many free people of color in Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay Colony. Some free African Americans (as people of color were chiefly defined under the binary system of segregation) were descended from slaves who were freed as early as the 17th century. But, most descended from unions of white women, indentured or free, and African or African American men, indentured, free or slave. There were also some indentured men from present-day India and Pakistan who intermarried with European and African women. Some of the early Native Americans who adopted English customs also married into these families or to English settlers, as noted for Keziah Elizabeth Tucker in the 17th century, above. [6]In many cases such free families migrated to frontier areas of Virginia and North Carolina, to purchase land and be relatively free of the racial strictures of the coastal plantation areas. In some areas, descendants formed communities known as tri-racial isolates. [6] Some groups who have identified culturally as Native Americans, like the Nansemond in the Tidewater area, have succeeded in gaining recognition as Native American tribes by Virginia or North Carolina. The Nansemond were affected by English colonial pressures in the 17th century and split apart. Those who were Christianized and had adopted more English customs stayed along the Nansemond River as farmers. "The other Nansemonds warred with the English in 1644, fled southwest to the Nottoway River, and had a reservation assigned them there by the Virginia colony. By 1744 they had ceased using the reservation and gone to live with the Nottoway Indians [note: this was an Iroquoian-language tribe] on another reservation nearby... In 1806 the last surviving Nansemond on the Nottoway Reservation died." The Nansemond sold their reservation in 1792 and were known as "citizen" Indians. [5]Nansemond today
Today, the Nansemond have about 200 tribal members. [7] As a "citizen tribe", they gained recognition by Virginia in 1984. [8] The disruption of wars and loss of records in Virginia would make it difficult for them to provide the extensive documentation needed for Federal recognition. The current Chief is Barry "Big Buck" Bass. [7]They hold monthly tribal meetings at the Indiana United Methodist Church (which was founded in 1850 as a mission for the Nansemond). The tribe co-hosts an annual powwow in June in Chesapeake, and has an annual powwow every year in August. The tribe has also operated a museum and gift shops. [3]Mattanock
The Nansemond are the only state-recognized tribe in Virginia that have not purchased land for their tribe. But, they are trying to get the city of Suffolk to give up 100 acres (0.40 km 2) of an 1,100-acre (4.5 km 2) riverfront park. They want to use this land to reconstruct Mattanock, a town of their ancestors. They plan to attract tourists by demonstrating their heritage. [7] The tribe has enlisted the help of Helen C. Rountree, whose research helped identify Mattanock Town's location. The village would utilize archaeological and other research to assure the proper dimensions of longhouses to be built on the site. [9]They have been trying to obtain the area for more than 10 years as a place to put a cultural center, the Mattanock village, tribal offices, pow wow grounds and a meeting place. The Suffolk task force on the project, made up mostly of non-Indians, has supported giving the site to the Nansemond. Suffolk's mayor, E. Dana Dickens III, has come out in support of the project as well, saying of the proposed museum and village, "It certainly can be a big part of Suffolk's tourism." The tribe has had to supply detailed plans for the project, including drawings. They have also had to submit documentation to the Mattanock Town task force that explains the type of non-profit foundation that will be created once the deed to the land is given to the tribe. All the Nansemond need now is the approval of the Suffolk City Council. [9] As of 2009, the tribe is still trying to acquire the land. [7]Federal recognitionThe Nansemond and other Virginia tribes have not been accorded Federal recognition by the US government, but a bill to recognize six tribes has been introduced into both houses of Congress. It would cover the following: Chickahominy Indian Tribe; Eastern Chickahominy Indian Tribe; Upper Mattaponi Tribe; Rappahannock Tribe, Inc.; Monacan Indian Nation; and Nansemond Indian Tribe. [10] In 2009 supporters again proposed the "Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act". By June 2009 the bill passed the House Committee on Natural Resources and the US House of Representatives. A companion bill was sent to the Senate the date after the bill was voted on in the House. That bill was sent to the Senate's Committee on Indian Affairs. On October 22, 2009 the bill was approved by the Senate committee and on December 23 was placed on the Senate's Legislative calendar. This is the furthest the bill has gotten in the Congressional process. [11][12] The bill currently has a hold on it placed for "jurisdictional concerns" as Senator Tom Coburn (R-Ok) believes requests for tribal recognition should be processed through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a process the Virginia tribes cannot utilize because of Walter Plecker. [13]References
- ^ "A Guide to Writing about Virginia Indians and Virginia Indian History", Virginia Council on Indians, Commonwealth of Virginia, updated Aug 2009, accessed 16 Sep 2009
- ^ "Virginia Tribe", Virginia Council on Indians, Commonwealth of Virginia, updated Aug 2009, accessed 16 Sep 2009
- ^ a b c d Karenne Wood, ed., The Virginia Indian Heritage Trail, Charlottesville, VA: Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 2007
- ^ a b c d e f Waugaman, Sandra F. and Danielle-Moretti-Langholtz, Ph.D. We're Still Here: Contemporary Virginia Indians Tell Their Stories, Richmond, VA: Palari Publishing, 2006 (revised edition)
- ^ a b c d Dr. Helen C. Rountree, "Nansemond History", Nansemond Tribal Association, accessed 16 Sep 2009
- ^ a b c d e Paul Heinegg, Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware, accessed 15 Feb 2008
- ^ a b c d Joanne Kimberlain, "We're Still Here," The Virginian-Pilot, June 7-9 2009: Print.
- ^ Dr. Helen C. Rountree, "Powhatan History", Nansemond Tribe Website, 2009, accessed 16 Sep 2009
- ^ a b Bobby Whitehead, "Nansemond Indians seek to reconstruct Mattanock Town", Indian Country Today, accessed 16 September 2009.
- ^ "Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2003, 108th Congress bill S.1423", introduced by then-Sen. George Allen (R-VA), not enacted.
- ^ "H.R. 1385, Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act", GovTrack.us
- ^ "Statement of Governor Kaine Submitted to the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs" Official Site of the Governor of Virginia
- ^ http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/5456/53/ External links
1640: Portugal regains its independence and Brazil returns Portuguese
1642: British colonists settle in Honduras
1643: Sugar is planted in Barbados
1647: Earthquake in Santiago de Chile
1648: End of the "Thirty Years' War" in Europe 1650: Holland becomes the dominant slave trading country
1651: Jews found Curacao
1651: English colonists from Barbados found a colony along the Suriname River
1654: The Brazilians expel the Dutch from Pernambuco Rhode Island Colony" in the year 1764, we find, for instance, that in the year 1723 "a few merchants in Newport" devised the idea to send their Newport rum to the coast of Africa. It developed into such a great export that in the matter of a few years "several thousand (hogsheads)" of rum went that way. To which purpose did this rum serve?
In 1654, the first Jew, Jacob Barsimson, emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam (New York) and in the next decade many more followed him, settling along the East Coast, principally in New Amsterdam and Newport, Rhode Island. They were prevented by ordinances issued by Governor Peter Stuyvesant from engaging in the domestic economy, so they quickly discovered that the territory inhabited by the Indians would be a fertile field. There were no laws preventing the Jews from trading with the Indians.
The first Jew to begin trading with the Indians was Hayman Levy, who imported cheap glass beads, textiles, earrings, armbands and other cheap adornments from Holland which were traded for valuable fur pelts. Hayman Levy was soon joined by Jews Nicholas Lowe and Joseph Simon. Lowe conceived the idea of trading rum and whiskey to the Indians and set up a distillery in Newport, where these two liquors were produced. Within a short time there were 22 distilleries in Newport, all of them owned by Jews, manufacturing and distributing 'firewater.' The story of the debauching of the Indians with its resultant massacres of the early settlers, is a dramatic story in itself. William sr Bass was born March 29, 1654 three of his sons married African women who were freed slaves. Edward,(b) abt 1672 John, (b) abt 1673 and William jr (b) abt 1676 married African women Joseph (b) abt 1679 Keziah (b) 1675-1704. William sr Bass born in NC and his family were Indian taxed as free people of color.
Edward Bass (married) Lovie Anderson ( a freed slave of John Fulsher from NC
i) Katherine Bass (m) Lewis Anderson (black man)
ii) Dinah Bass (m) John Pone (black Man)
iii) Reuben Bass (m) Mary Anderson (black woman)
iv) Benjamin Bass (m) Mary ???
i)Selah (m) Archibald Mitchell
ii)Winnie Bass (m) Jacob Anderson child: Jacob Anderson
v) Edward jr Bass (m) Tamer Anderson
i) Darling Bass (m) Rhoda Anderson
ii) Prudence Bass (m) Jesse Day (Black man) wasn't married until after children were born
i) Jethro Bass (m) Polly Mitchell (maybe my grandfather)
ii) Cullen Bass (m) Ann Mayo
John Bass (married) Love Harris he had twelve children one of which married an African Am freed slave
i) Sarah Bass married Lewis Anderson
child: Tamor Anderson
William jr Bass (married) Sarah Lovina Sarah was the mulatto daughter of John Nichols african slave Jean Lovina
i)Sarah
ii) John
iii) William b 1733
iv) Joseph
v)Thomas (m) Sally Butler child: Jacob b) abt 1778 1655: Britain conquers Jamaica from Spain
1658: Buenos Aires has a population of 1,500
1667: British pirate Henry Morgan raids Portobello (Panama)
1667: Britain surrenders Surinam to Holland in return for New Amsterdam (in New York)
1671: British pirate Henry Morgan raids Panama
1674: Spain abolishes the slave trade of Araucanian Indios in Chile
1679: There are 22 utopian Jesuit missions in Paraguay and northern Argentina
1680: Portuguese colonist Manuel de Lobo founds the colony of Sacramento inside Spanish territory of Uruguay, that competes with Buenos Aires via contraband
1683: An international group of pirates raids Vera Cruz (Mexico)
1692: The poor riot in Ciudad de Mexico against state and Church
1693: Gold is discovered in Minas Geraes, Brazil, causing a gold rush in the West, and the center of power shifts from the Northeast towards Rio de Janeiro
1695: The Portuguese exterminate the Quilombo dos Palmares
1695: Gold is discovered in Minas Gerais, Brazil
1697: Spain cedes the western part of Hispaniola to France, renamed Saint-Dominique
1697: An international group of pirates raids Cartagena (Colombia |
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