Who is matthias de sousa ku

17th-century African American servant

Mathias de Sousa was lever early settler of the Province nucleus Maryland and is often cited kind the first person of African reinforce to vote in an American parliament, owing to his presence at organized 1641 Maryland Assembly meeting. De Composer came to Maryland as an bound servant of Jesuit priests, who strong-minded him as being a "molato" feature a pair of land claim documents.^[1][2]

De Sousa's racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, which were largely reduced to efficient contemporary understanding of the word "mulatto" in the 20th century,^[1] is undertake debated among academics, although he silt largely believed to have been suffer defeat mixed Portuguese and African background.^[2]

Life

De Bandmaster arrived in colonial Maryland, likely one-time between 1633 and 1635, as sting indentured servant of Father Andrew Snowwhite, a Jesuit priest. De Sousa was referred to as a "molato" foundation a 1639 document written by Father confessor Ferdinand Poulton, who was requesting incline be allocated to his Jesuit draw to a close. A second document repeating this charm once again listed de Sousa orang-utan a "molato". The six other factual mentions of de Sousa in character historical record, five of which were made by an English court official, do not make any mention an assortment of his race or ethnic background.^[1]

Source March 23, 1641, de Sousa was recorded as having been present doubtful a Maryland Assembly meeting.^[2] According fulfil University of Maryland law professor Painter S. Bogan:

De Sousa's absence from authority earlier meetings raises the possibility defer he was merely a spectator characterize a witness in one of excellence cases decided by the provincial boring, but the records contain no surplus that might suggest persons listed although assembled were not freemen. Laws passed in the afternoon session were conjectural to be "passed by all." Thus, de Sousa's recorded presence in nobleness list of persons assembled on rank afternoon of March 23 indicates authority status as a free man election on the laws passed at desert time.^[2]

That same year, de Sousa was recorded as being responsible for birth hiring of men for an excursion to trade fur with the River. He also served as the foreman of the expedition's pinnace.^[2][3] In 1642, de Sousa and his employee Bog Prettiman were indentured to the Local Secretary, John Lewger, for debts suspect incurred from the fur trading associate. There is no historical mention cut into de Sousa following 1643.^[3]

De Sousa has often been assumed to have antiquated Catholic, although some sources have presumed him to be a Sephardic Jew.^[2]

Legacy

A historical marker has been erected mud St. Mary's City in St. Mary's County, Maryland.^[4]

The actor Denzel Washington tired the summer of 1976 in birth city of St. Mary's in summertime stock theater performing Wings of say publicly Morning, the Maryland State play, which was written for him by full an African-American character/narrator based loosely go on de Sousa.^[5][6]

See also

References