Thread by @MirandaKaufmann

Hope everyone in the US is enjoying #BlackHistoryMonth & learning a lot! Just wanted to talk about how #BlackTudors can give you a new perspective on #BlackHistory. For over 100 years before 1619 there were Africans living in Britain. Looking at their experiences raises new Qs…

Did you know there were Africans at the courts of Henry VII, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and James IV of Scotland? That an African diver salvaged items from the @MaryRoseMuseum? That there were Africans aboard the @GoldenHinde_ when Drake sailed it around the world in 1577-80?

In fact, Diego and Maria, and two other unnamed African men were with Drake when he landed in California in 1579- Africans (albeit briefly) in North America forty years before 1619.

And in 1619, the same year as the first Africans arrived in Virginia, a free waged African sailor named John Anthony set sail on a voyage to Virginia aboard the Silver Falcon of Dover - though they only made it as far as Bermuda before turning back…

These are just a few of over 200 Africans living in England & Scotland before 1619. I tell their stories in my 2017 book - #BlackTudors BlackTudors.com - also available on @audible_com & @AmazonKindle

I also look in-depth at the stories of Jacques Francis the salvage diver, Mary Fillis the Moroccan convert & Edward Swarthye the Porter in this @GreshamCollege lecture

#BlackTudors were baptised, married (sometimes to English people) and buried in the @churchofengland; paid wages & allowed to testify in court - enjoying many freedoms later denied to Africans in the British colonies

Looking at their lives raises new questions about the history of enslavement and racism. Was enslavement inevitable? How, when and why did racial enslavement develop? What changed over the course of the 17th century as the first English colonies emerged?

If you’re intrigued & want to examine the original documents, learn from a range of top experts and discuss what it all means with other learners, check out my FREE online #FLBlackTudors @FutureLearn course - where you can learn from this amazing line up of scholars…

https://twitter.com/MirandaKaufmann/status/1414890931510292486

There’s even more articles, videos, podcasts, interviews & more on my website MirandaKaufmann.com

And of course there are so many other fascinating books in this field - here’s a few

https://twitter.com/mirandakaufmann/status/1273965018200113153

And, if you’re a #historyteacher looking for something new this #BlackHistoryMonth check out the resources emerging from my #TeachingBlackTudors project mirandakaufmann.com/blog/teaching-…