Myne Owne Ground: Race and Freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore, 1640-1676

by T.H. Breen and Stephen Innes

Book Overview

Concentrating on the lives of blacks who achieved freedom, this book describes how, against formidable odds, they amassed property, established plantations, acquired dependent laborers, and lived for several generations as free and independent members of Virginia society.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195032063
• ISBN13: 9780195032062
• Release Date: September 1982
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.0" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Free blacks of the 17th century

Very readable historical narrative. Clears up a very large misconception: that whites automatically thought blacks were inferior and thus enslaved them. Only people with enough resources to obtain property were allowed an active and coveted role in Virginia society. Many blacks that had obtained freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore attained this stature - their rights protected and upheld by the court justices, white children placed in their custody, were called to testify against whites in trials, conducted substantial business with great white planters, and so forth. Without anyone considering it taboo. Virginia's society was initially based more on class and Englishness than race. Joe the white indentured servant and John the black indentured servant were treated the same way by their masters. As all of their indentures were up, there was a growing class of relatively united black and white freemen who were not part of the upper-class English gentry. Herein lies the problem. After Bacon's Rebellion, the gentry created sharp racial lines within the poor class and thus weaked the unity in the lower class. Racism was created -- it was not automatic. The main points of this book are to encourage the reader to see the origins of racism in a different light and to tell the awesome story of free blacks on the Eastern Shore in the 17th century.

Myne Owne Ground

"Myne Own Ground" gives us a better understanding about how the free African slaves in Virginia lived during the sixteen hundreds. T. H. Breen and Stephen Innes show us a more personal look into this period of time by telling the lives of several of the freed slaves' families. The book is easier to read than a history textbook because of this. "Myne Own Ground" states some interesting and important facts about this time. The most interesting thing that I learned from this book that we do not learn from history textbooks is that freed slaves owned slaves. White people were not the only people to enslave other people. This was common because people were property. If you owned people, you did not have to pay taxes. There are several other surprises in this book that most people would not know about this time. It is very interesting to know that race was not the main issue, it really was the social class each person was a part of. "Myne Own Ground" makes you wonder about what it would be like in our country if they had done some things differently. It points out so much that we have more than likely not thought about before. I recommend this book if you are looking for something that will grab your attention and keep it.

Status vs. Slavery

Myne Owne Ground is a different view of blacks in early colonial Virginia, compared to what most of us are use to hearing about. Rather than speaking of blacks being slaves, the book points out the life of free blacks and how and why they got their freedom, and why future blacks lost their freedom. Breen and Innes break the book down into five chapters. The first chapter gives a history of one particular slave named Anthony Johnson and how he bought himself out of slavery and became a well-known black farmer in Virginia. The second chapter goes into depth on how and why blacks like Anthony Johnson succeeded in the white dominant society. We come to find that it was about status and property. Speaking of property did you know that blacks owned slaves themselves? The third chapter, even though a bit long, speaks about the environment of why indentured servants and slaves were needed to harvest tobacco. The fourth chapter was the most interesting and important part of the book. It speaks of the free blacks of Virginia by bringing in two more blacks, Francis Payne and Emanuel Driggus. Again it restates the process of indentured servants and slaves that were able to buy their freedom. Also in this chapter it points out that Nathaniel Bacon's Rebellion may have been the start of the decline of blacks having rights to buying their own freedom. This in return may have caused "American embarrassment" (3) because of the racial tension of slavery throughout America's history. The book concludes with a chapter about race relations changing during the late 1600s and how blacks started to lose their freedom in Virginia because "doors to economic opportunities were either shut or fast closing by that time" (114). To support their arguments the authors provide evidence, most of which are public documents. This read is a little wordy, but worth it. It's very insightful for students learning about U.S history and another view most of us are unaware about. The book is not just about blacks and slaves, it's about economic and political tension that brought the harsh slavery of blacks we hear about today. It also shows that it was not always like this from the beginning of American colonial history.

Changing the discussion on Slave Relations.

Myne Owne Ground is the story of free black men and women in the colonial Virginia East Shore that were able to gain an adequate standing within their community using property. The book summarizes the problems of the individuals in the community and of the time. The authors argue that race relations could have been fundamentally different in the United States, because early social relations were based on class and not race. The book focuses on the story of Anthony Johnson, Francis Payne, and others in the Eastern Shore that may have drastically been able to change the way in which race relations were viewed. The authors provide a good deal of evidence for their book, but there are two main problems. One, it seems to drag on way more than is necessary. An individual can easily get out the argument of the book by reading through the introduction and conclusion first. Two, the book is too technical in detail for the average reader. The authors take a great deal of time arguing against other historians, but to the lay reader it seems unnecessary. To me, this can be a blessing and a curse. The historian largely involved in historiography will find this book invaluable. For the lay reader, I believe the introduction and conclusion are sufficient. I think the average reader may receive less out of the book than the historian, but it is a small read so I believe it is worth it to both. The historian should give it a good read, but the layperson, I believe, can quickly skim the book to get the essence of it.

Blacks who achieved freedom...

This is an excellent introduction to the evolution of black-white relations in mainland North America and to the development of racist attitudes based on cultural diversity.Africans began arriving early in English-American history. Some of the first of these arrived in Virginia. A number of black Atlantic creoles, notably the Johnsons and Drigguses arrived in Virginia, managed to survive the tidewater massacre and other problems relating to survival and even to gain enough personal wealth to buy their freedom (or were subject to voluntary manumission due to appreciation for their outstanding service to their owners). These black former-slaves (and, possibly, some black indentured servants) set up plantations on Virginia's east shore (where the coast doubles backs around Chesapeake Bay) and established plantations. They owned slaves and purchased white indentured servants. In addition, because the racist aspects of slavery were still largely limited by the cosmopolitanism of the Atlantic creoles, several of the families intermarried with whites. Slowly, over a period of time, an increasing number of non-creole blacks arrived as slaves and the distinct markings, customs and languages of the numerous new arrivals resulted in hardening racial sentiments. Some blacks, such as Anthony Johnson's grandson (also Anthony Johnson) began to consider Africa in a positive light as opposed to European racism and restrictions on the rights of free blacks - eventually leaving for less restrictive colonies, such as Maryland. Some were re-enslaved (not having been able to produce clear evidence that they were free and not having any living whites who could attest that their ancestors had been freed). As Ira Berlin (MANY THOUSANDS GONE) points out, some remained as relatively wealthy planters, such as Ezicarum Driggus even after such racist sentiment crystallized.This should be read with Tommy L. Bogger: FREE BLACKS IN NORFOLK VIRGINIA 1790-1860:The Darker Side of Freedom and Earvin Jordan's BLACK CONFEDERATES AND AFRO-YANKEES IN CIVIL WAR VIRGINIA.