Arrival of the First Africans at Jamestown
Sidney E. King, Arrival of the First Africans at Jamestown, 1956. Visual Resources, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Elizabeth Key (pronounced Kay) was born in colonial Virginia around 1630. Her mother was an enslaved Black woman whose name was not recorded. Her father, Thomas Key, had immigrated to the colony as an indentured servant in 1619. By the time Elizabeth was born, Thomas was an independent planter who owned a farm and enslaved multiple people, including Elizabeth’s mother. When Elizabeth was born, Thomas admitted that he had sexual relations with her mother. He was fined for getting her pregnant. At the time of Elizabeth’s birth, the fathers of children born outside of marriage were responsible for their care. Thomas had a white English wife and children, and records indicate that he taught his other children to treat Elizabeth like their sister.
In 1636 Thomas returned to England with his white wife and children. He made an indenture contract for six-year-old Elizabeth with another English colonist named Humphrey Higginson. At the time, it was common for children born outside of marriage to be indentured when they were old enough. According to the agreement, Humphrey would feed, clothe, and house Elizabeth. In return she would work for him for nine years. The agreement stipulated that if Humphrey died before the end of the nine-year term, Elizabeth would be set free. If Humphrey decided to return to England before the nine years were up, he was supposed to bring Elizabeth with him. Humphrey also promised to treat Elizabeth like one of his own children.
It is possible that Elizabeth was not told about the terms of her indenture, because she worked for Humphrey for nineteen years. When Humphrey moved to England in 1640 he transferred Elizabeth’s indenture contract to another planter named John Mottrom.
Elizabeth lived and worked in John’s household for another fifteen years. We do not know for sure why Elizabeth continued to work for first Humphrey and then John long after her first contract was over. But her personal life may hold a clue. Records indicated Elizabeth was in a relationship with William Grinstead, a white English indentured servant who also worked for John. The couple had two children together. One died in infancy, but the other, a son, survived.
Elizabeth occupied an unusual position in Virginia colonial society. In the 1600s it was common for wealthy colonists to have both indentured servants and enslaved people working and living in their households. Over the first half of the century, there came to be a racial distinction between the two groups. Social custom indicated that indentured servants were white and would be freed after their terms of service were completed. The same custom indicated that enslaved people were Black or Indigenous and were bound to serve their enslavers for life. But none of this was legally defined.
As mixed-race people, Elizabeth and her son complicated these emerging ideas of race and social status. When John died in the summer of 1655, an inventory of his estate listed indentured servants and enslaved Black people separately. The list recorded indentured servants with the years of servitude they had left. Elizabeth and her son were both identified as “Negroes” and no term of servitude was listed. This suggested that they were enslaved for life because they were Black.
Elizabeth did not accept this assessment of her status. She sued John’s estate for her freedom, claiming that her father had signed a contract making her an indentured servant, not an enslaved person. Only free adult men could represent themselves in court, so William spoke for Elizabeth.
As mixed-race people, Elizabeth and her son complicated these emerging ideas of race and social status.
On January 20, 1656, a jury concluded that Elizabeth was a free woman. But John’s estate appealed the verdict. Two months later, the Quarter Court decided she would remain in service because they believed her race meant she had always been enslaved.
Elizabeth and William took her case directly to the Virginia General Assembly, the governing body of the entire colony. She stated that according to English common law, the daughter of a free man was born free. She also pointed out that her father had her baptized as a baby, and it was illegal to enslave Christians. The General Assembly ruled in Elizabeth’s favor. They also recommended that Elizabeth should be paid for the additional years she spent in service after her nine-year contract ended. The court followed the General Assembly’s recommendation and granted Elizabeth her freedom. They ordered John’s estate to pay her the allowance of corn and clothing that indentured servants typically received when they completed their service contracts. They also agreed she should receive compensation for the additional years she served beyond her contract.
After securing her freedom, Elizabeth officially declared her intent to marry William. They had two more children together, a son and a daughter. Limited recorded information is available about the family, but records indicated both children died by 1667.
Elizabeth won her case, but she may have prompted the General Assembly to reconsider the status of the children of white male enslavers and Black women. In 1662 Virginia passed a law which stated that all children born to enslaved women would inherit the status of their mother, guaranteeing that future children like Elizabeth would be enslaved for life.
Vocabulary
- baptize: A religious ceremony that makes a person part of a Christian community.
- Church of England: Also called the Anglican Church. A Protestant Christian church that is led by the king or queen of England.
- common law: A system of laws based on the rulings of judges rather than written laws.
- estate: All of the money and property owned by a person.
- General Assembly: The governing body in Virginia colony.
- indentured servant: A person under contract to work for another person for a definite period of time without pay, usually in exchange for transport to a new place.
- Quarter Court: The criminal and civil court session held four times a year in rural colonial Virginia.
Discussion Questions
- How did Elizabeth Key Grinstead assert her status as a free woman? What laws supported her claim?
- Why did Elizabeth Key Grinstead’s identity as a mixed-race woman complicate her status as a free woman?
- How did Elizabeth Key Grinstead’s freedom suit potentially influence laws about slavery and race in colonial Virginia?
- What does the story of Elizabeth Key Grinstead reveal about race and social status in early colonial Virginia?
Suggested Activities
- APUSH Connection: 2.6 Slavery in the British Colonies
- Include this life story in a lesson about slavery in the English colonies. This life story illustrates how laws around slavery and freedom developed in the early colonial period.
- Pair this life story with Legislating Reproduction and Racial Difference to consider the potential legal impact of Elizabeth Key Grinstead’s case and learn how racial difference was codified in colonial America.
- For a larger consideration of the challenges of indentured servitude, pair this life story with Life Story: Dennis and Hannah Holland.
- Combine this life story with Life Story: Cockacoeske and Life Story: Lady Frances Berkeley to consider the varying experiences of women of different racial backgrounds in colonial Virginia.
- For a larger lesson on slavery and freedom in the colonial era, teach this life story alongside any of the following:
- For a larger lesson on the experiences of women in the Chesapeake colonies, combine this life story with the following:
Themes
POWER AND POLITICS
