Re: Nansemond Bass Family of Norfolk
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In reply to:
Re: Nansemond Bass Family of Norfolk
james nickens 11/25/08
Thanks a million James.
Interesting information indeed. I followed your advice and posted a question on the Bass Forum to Gerry Bass.
I don't like grasping at straws, but it is possible that this Jerusha Weaver Bass was the grandmother of my Jerusha Bass, born circa 1825 - 1830 in North Carolina.
That she had a father or grandfather name of Andrew Bass is certain in as much as my great grandfather was named Andrew Bass Farrar after him.. so said my grandmother.
I thank you for the info, and hope that someday I can ascertain the father of Jerusha Bass, for the time being I suspect that it is Uriah Bass, as he is the only Bass that left a trail (Census and Land Patent wise) during that time frame (1820 - 1850) in Perry Co. Ala.
By the way it wasn't Thomas Farrar of the Virginia Company, but William Farrer/Farrar who was the barrister, his father John was the President and his sister Virginia was the companies cartographer.
I know all about the history of slavery in this country. and many folk don't realize that the first slaves were white..and indentured servitude is a nice word for slavery.
Another unknown fact is that it was a black slave owner responsible for the court ruling that slaves are property.
I don't have the facts at hand, but it was early on in the history of Virginia.
"here was nothing inevitable about the use of black slaves. Although 20 Africans were purchased in Jamestown, Virginia, as early as 1619, throughout most of the 17th century the number of Africans in the English mainland colonies (American Colonies) grew slowly. During those years, colonists experimented with two other sources of forced labor: Native American slaves and European indentured servants. The number of Native American slaves was limited in part because the Native Americans were in their homeland; they knew the terrain and could escape fairly easily. Although some Native American slaves existed in every colony the number was limited. The settlers found it easier to sell Native Americans captured in war to planters in the Caribbean than to turn them into slaves on their own terrain.
More important as a form of labor was indentured servitude. Most indentured servants were poor Europeans who wanted to escape harsh conditions and take advantage of opportunities in America. They traded four to seven years of their labor in exchange for the transatlantic passage. At first, indentured servants came mainly from England, but later they came increasingly from Ireland, Wales, and Germany. They were primarily, although not exclusively, young males. Once in the colonies, they were essentially temporary slaves; most served as agricultural workers although some, especially in the North, were taught skilled trades. During the 17th century, they performed most of the heavy labor in the Southern colonies and also provided the bulk of immigrants to those colonies." http://americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/civwar/slavery.htmlhttp://americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/civwar/slavery.html