Mathias de Sousa was the first Black elected Representative in America. A free man, Sousa was of
African and
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Port ...
descent.
Life
It is believed that Sousa's father was born in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal:
:* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
. Within colonial
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...
society, Sousa was defined as a "
mulatto
(, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese ...
", a person of mixed African and European descent. Sousa worked as an indentured servant for Fr
Andrew White, a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
priest in the
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
; Sousa is also believed to have been Catholic. Following his indentured servitude, which ended in 1638, Sousa worked as a fur trader and a mariner.
In March 1641, Sousa was elected as a Representative at a Maryland Assembly meeting.
Legacy
An historical marker has been erected in
St. Mary's City in
St. Mary's County, Maryland
St. Mary's County, established in 1637, is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 113,777. Its county seat is Leonardtown. The name is in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus. St. Mary's Count ...
.
References
{{Reflist
17th-century African-American people
African-American history of Maryland
African-American state legislators in Maryland
American fur traders
American indentured servants
American people of Portuguese descent
People of colonial Maryland
St. Mary's City, Maryland
African-American Catholics