April 20, 2023 First Black Officeholder in colonial America: Matthias de Souza, 1641

MATTHIAS DE SOUSA

Matthias de Sousa, an indentured servant, was the only black person to serve in the colonial Maryland legislature.  As such he is the first African American to sit in any legislative body in what would become the United States.

As one of nine indentured servants working for Father Andrew White, a Catholic priest, de Sousa arrived at St Mary’s City, St Clements Island, Maryland, in 1634 on the ship The Ark along with White and other European settlers. De Sousa was probably of mixed African and European (possibly Portuguese) descent judging by land records that record him being called a ‘Molato’ (Mulatto) by a priest in the colony.

For the first few years he lived in Maryland, de Sousa worked for Jesuit priests although the exact details of his activities are not know.  Generally such servants built and maintained churches and houses for the Jesuits.

In 1638, having worked for the required four years as an indentured servant, de Sousa became a free man. He earned money by continuing to work for the priests.  He also traded English goods with Indians for animal furs and food.  In 1641 he commanded a small boat on a two month voyage to trade with the Susquehannock Indians. In 1642, de Sousa sailed as master of a ketch belonging to the Provincial Secretary, John Lewger.

De Sousa departed and returned to the capital of the colony, St. Mary’s City, many times.  He also voted and in 1641 he was elected to the Maryland General Assembly, serving until 1642. Soon after, when Susquehannock Indians attacked the English settlers, de Sousa became indebted to John Lewger and to planter John Hollis as he was unable to trade for furs. The last trace of Matthias de Sousa in the records of the colony is an order of the court in 1642 requiring him to reenter indentured servitude.  He was ordered to serve John Lewger for a limited period of time to pay off a debt.

No record remains of de Sousa’s activities after 1642, but the Indians killed some colonists in battles during 1643 and other colonists became sick and died from disease and lack of food.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

March 2, 2023 Math & Science

Image
Influential Black Scientists From left to right: Gladys West, Charles Henry Turner, Alice Ball, Percy L. Julian, Sophia B. Jones, Elijah McCoy, Charles Lightfoot Roman. (U.S. Navy, Public domain, DePauw University Archives and Special Collections, Public domain, New York Public Library, Ben Shannon/CBC.) Innovators across disciplines who have made significant, enduring contributions to the world. From the first treatment for leprosy to the foundation of the global positioning system, Black scientists have long been involved in major scientific developments, despite being pushed to the margins, refused jobs, and denied credit for their discoveries.  Charles Henry Turner | Discovered animals can have complex thoughts Among Turner's many discoveries, he was the first to prove that insects have the capacity to hear, and that they can learn by trial and error.  He was one of the first African Americans to earn a PhD from the University of Chicago, and in 1892, was the first Black s...
Read more

June 7, 2023 Sharon Mosely Braun - 1st Black woman in the U.S. Senate

Image
Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate, was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 16, 1947. She attended the Chicago Public Schools and received a degree from the University of Illinois in 1969.  She earned her degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1972. Moseley Braun served as assistant prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago from 1972 to 1978. In the latter year she was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives and served in that body for ten years. During her tenure Moseley Braun made educational reform a priority. She also became the first African American assistant majority leader in the history of the Illinois legislature.  Moseley Braun returned to Chicago in 1988 to serve as Cook County Recorder of Deeds. Capitalizing on the public furor over the Clarence Thomas–Anita Hill controversy and in particular the way in which Hill was treated by U.S. Senators, Carol Moseley Braun upset incumbent Senator Alan ...
Read more

March 6, 2023 Auto Designers

Image
Mckinley Thompson Jr.  (November 8, 1922 - March 8, 2006)  McKinley Thompson was the first African American automotive designer, and he was the first African American Designer to work at the Ford Motor Company. C.R. Patterson & Sons - the First Black Owned Car Company. By the late 19th century, the United States had been fully ushered into a period of dramatic industrial and economic growth commonly known as the Gilded Age. Some of the industry’s pioneers and gamechangers Every February, the United States celebrates African Americans’ contributions to society. Black History Month can be traced back to a week in 1926 when Black historians held the first organized commemoration. In the decades that followed, the Civil Rights Movement prompted huge strides in legal and cultural progress, and in 1976, President Gerald Ford made Black History Month official. At around the same time, Black professionals, including car designers, finally began to get some of the opportunities and...
Read more