Actually, Northam does seem to know his history. I read the continuation of the article. There was a link to indentured servants which I clicked. The last 2 paragraphs there were very interesting but did not allow me to transfer if off the page. So roughly what it said is when the first Africans were brought to VA in 1619, there were NO slave laws, so they used the laws of indenture, and the Africans had the same rights and responsibilities as did other indentured servants. This included receipt of land after the prescribed period ended successfully. However, settlers began to worry about them getting all this land, so slavery laws were passed in “liberal” Mass. in 1641, but the Virginians did not get around to it until 1661. So in VA, black indenture was the law for 42 years. Sounds like an interesting topic for more research.
Thanks. Several others pointed that out, too. I was completely unaware of that and indeed that’s an interesting and surprising bit of history.
The huge difference is that the Africans didn’t volunteer for indentured servitude.