August 2019 Marked the 400th year since August 1619, when the first documented slave ship landed in Virginia.

This 1901 illustration from Harper's Monthly magazine shows an artist's interpretation of the first documented slave ship to be put ashore land in the English colony of Old Point Comfort, in what is now Hampton, Virginia.

Below is part of a government (114th Congress (2015-2016), report listing out the reasons that a "400 Years Of African American Commission Act" should be voted approved. This is dated September 6, 2016.
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PURPOSE
The purpose of H.R. 4539 is to establish the 400 Years of African-American History Commission.

BACKGROUND AND NEED
"In August 1619, the first documented Africans arrived in the English colony of Virginia. The group, recorded upon arrival as ``20 and odd Negros,'' was part of a larger group of West Africans enslaved by Portuguese slavetraders.

They were on their way to Vera Cruz aboard a Portuguese ship, when they were captured off the coast of Mexico by the White Lion, an English warship, flying a Dutch flag, and operating under Dutch letters of marque. The White Lion transported them to Virginia, where they were put ashore at Old Point Comfort, in what is now Hampton, Virginia, and sold as involuntary laborers or indentured servants.

Slavery had not been institutionalized at that point so these Africans were informed they would work under contract for a certain period of time before being granted freedom and the rights afforded other settlers. White indentured servants were listed along with their year of expected freedom whereas no such year accompanied the names of the African indentured servants.

The historic arrival of the group of ``20 and odd Negros''' marked the beginning of the trend in colonial America where people of Africa were taken unwillingly from their homeland, transplanted, and committed to lifelong slavery and racial discrimination.

August 2019 marked 400 years since the first arrival of Africans to present day America. There is an interest in commemorating the contributions that Americans of African descent have made to help shape the cultural, academic, social, economic, and moral attributes of this nation.
A federal ``400 Years of African American History Commission'' would mark this historic heritage"

Source: https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/114th-congress/senate-report/341/1?fbclid=IwY2xjawJnjixleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHoOxBQsxj2GDExNowummN0oZrlanUm-Sda8MGYPUYHFInal1_wXiPVilKquR_aem_PEmVp1229KzM6gZtztg0jg