When we talk about race in colonial America, we usually imagine a strict divide between “white” Europeans and “black” Africans. But the early historical record shows a much messier picture one that included Europeans themselves being described as swart, swarthy, or even black. Early colonial records displaying layers of complexity.
What “Swarthy” Really Meant
The English word swarthy (from swart, akin to Dutch zwart and German schwarz) originally meant “dark-colored” or “black.” (swarthy, like a swarthy African”
“Of a dark hue or dusky complexion; tawny.” — Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary (1755)
“In warm climates, the complexion of men is universally swarthy or black.” — 18th c. Encyclopaedia entry on climate
So when early records called someone “swart” or “swarthy,” they were saying: this person is dark/black tanned, brunette, or brown-skinned.
Historical Evidence of Dark-Described Europeans
- Benjamin Franklin (1751)
In Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Franklin famously wrote:
“The Spaniards, Italians, French, Russians and Swedes are generally of what we call a swarthy complexion; as are the Germans also, the Saxons only excepted.”
Franklin considered Anglo-Saxons uniquely “white,” while Germans, Swedes, and southern Europeans were “swarthy.” Even within Europe, whiteness was not a fixed category.
In fact, German & Dutch Immigrants Labeled were “Black” in America
In colonial and early U.S. records, many families of German or Dutch origin were described as “dark,” “brown,” “olive,” or “Black Dutch.”
The Dictionary of American Regional English defines Black Dutch as:
“Dark-complexioned people of uncertain origin, often Germans or South Germans.”
Civil War service rolls, census schedules, and pension records routinely list German-born men as having dark or swarthy complexions common descriptors for German immigrants in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Kentucky. ( melungeon??)
The “Black Dutch” and “Black German” Folk Memory
By the 18th–19th centuries, “Black Dutch” had become an American identity label. Some used it for dark-complexioned German/Dutch families. Others as a cover term for Native or mixed ancestry however this is contested.
Folk theories claimed the “Black Dutch” descended from dark-haired Dutchmen or from Spanish soldiers who stayed in the Low Countries. Whether the folk etymology holds or not, the phrase originated to describe darker Europeans.
European Nobility was described as “Black” or “Swart”
Henry the Black (Heinrich der Schwarze), Duke of Bavaria (d. 1126), was nicknamed for his dark face.
Charles II of England was nicknamed “the Black Boy” by his mother for his swarthy skin.
Numerous Dutch and German families bore surnames like De Zwart, Schwarz, Schwartz, Schwarzenegger, and Mohr nicknames for ancestors with dark complexions.
These names appear across early church and guild records, reflecting how visibly dark Europeans were marked within their own societies.
Even in Dutch Heraldry and records points towards this. In 16th–17th century Dutch heraldry includes arms depicting black or “swart” heads ( “Moor’s heads”), often symbolizing an ancestor’s complexion or the family itself although modern historians say it’s Saint Maurice but that’s bs.
Dutch municipal rolls list names like Jan Swart and Pieter de Swarte, literal descriptors meaning “John the Dark” or “Peter the Black.” Archaeogenetics Confirms Early Dark Populations. Recent DNA studies from the University of Groningen (2023) revealed that early inhabitants of the Netherlands had dark skin and blue eyes. This shows that early northern Europeans were not originally pale making historic descriptions of “swart” or “dark” Dutchmen plausible rather than exceptional.
By the time of early colonization, complexion had become shorthand for social category as much as appearance. In America’s racial system, however, that fluid European spectrum hardened into binary: “white” vs. “black.”
Yet records from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas still described swarthy or dark Europeans “Black Dutch,” “Black Irish,” “Black German” before racial classifications became rigid. It seems Black and White meant something different as these populations got folded into the White classification despite being recorded as dark, swarthy, brown, tawny, brunette, etc
These people existed in the margins of both whiteness and blackness: dark-featured Europeans who didn’t fit the ideal of “pure” white Anglo stock but were not African.
The existence of “Black Europeans” in colonial America isn’t a myth.
They were real Europeans Dutch, German, Flemish, Swiss—whose darker complexions earned them color-based descriptors like swart, swarthy, or black. Their presence reveals how fluid and relative the concept of race was before it ossified in the 19th century.
From Benjamin Franklin’s “swarthy Germans” to “Black Dutch” genealogies, from De Zwart and Mohr surnames to Dutch heraldic heads, the evidence shows a long continuum of darker Europeans—visible, documented, and remembered in the early American record.
1. Robert Clinton, Weaver (Runaway Servant) — “black curled hair, swarthy complexion”
“servant man named Robert Clinton, a weaver by trade. He is of middle stature, with black curled hair, swarthy complexion, and about twenty years of age.”
— Runaway Advertisement (colonial runaway-servant ad) 
2. Pennsylvania Gazette, November 26, 1747 — “black curled hair, swarthy complexion”
“RUN away the 22d instant, from … black curled hair, swarthy complexion, and about twenty.”
— Pennsylvania Gazette, Nov. 26, 1747 
3. Virginia Gazette, January 28, 1768 — “very black”
“Run away … a Negro fellow named Tom … full faced, and very black … had on … such clothing as laboring Negroes usually have …”
— Virginia Gazette, Jan. 28, 1768 
4. New-York Gazette (Bood) — “yellow complexion”
“ThIRTY DOLLARS REWARD: … a Ne~o Man named BOOD, about 31 Years old, 5 Feet 10 Inches high, yellow Complexion, thin Visage, … ”
— New-York Gazette, Dec. 25, 1766 (runaway ad for Bood) 
5. “Goodman and Hose” (July 4, colonial servant runaways) — “slender fellow of swarthy complexion, with short black hair”
“He was: ‘about 5 feet 8 inches high, about 28 years of age, a slender fellow of swarthy complexion, with short black hair.’ … The Dutchman also had … ‘of a swarthy complexion, down look, brown hair, full face.’”
— July 4 servant runaway notice for Goodman & Hose 
Emperor Leopold I (1640–1705) of the Holy Roman Empire, depicted with dark hair and a sallow complexion.
An English traveler, Sir John Swinburne, described Leopold as “a hale, short black man,” referring to the emperor’s swarthy appearance.
Similarly, European nobles sometimes earned epithets based on their coloring. For instance, Holy Roman Emperor Henry III was nicknamed “Henry the Black” because his face was notably dark (schwarz) compared to others . In such cases, “black” denoted a swart or dusky complexion (or black hair), distinguishing the individual within a predominantly fair-complexioned elite.
Even outside Germany, dark-featured Europeans attracted similar descriptors again England’s King Charles II, for example, had a notably swarthy complexion and was informally dubbed “the Black Boy” by his mother because of his black hair and eyes
Registers of Servants and Transported Convicts, 1750–1775 (Maryland State Archives, MSA S1403)
These entries sometimes include:
“Name — Country — Complexion — Hair — Eyes — Height — Trade.”
Some describe people as “dark,” “ruddy,” “brown,” or “swarthy.”
The Philadelphia Servant Registrations (1729–1771) Maintained under colonial servant laws.
Recorded nationality (Irish, German, Dutch), age, height, and complexion. Example of entry format (from the original register):
“Johannes Heineman, German, 22, 5’7”, brown complexion, black hair, shoemaker.”
(Philadelphia County Archives, Servant Indenture Books, 1729–1771.)
Several Germans and Dutch are described as brown or dark in these.
These are enumeration-style records, not narratives but they’re primary and descriptive.
Continental Army Muster Rolls & Descriptive Lists (1777–1783)
Many German-American and Dutch-American soldiers listed as:
“dark complexion,” “swarthy,” or “brown hair.”
(Example: Pennsylvania Line, Muster Roll of Capt. John Arndt’s Company, 1781: “Johannes Keller, age 27, German, dark complexion.”)
These are official government records (now in the National Archives).
Virginia Militia Enrollments (1780s–1790s) — often list complexion, hair, and eyes.
“Whereas Hugh Gwyn hath by order from this Board brought back from Maryland three servants formerly run away from the said Gwyn, the court doth therefore order that the said three servants shall receive the punishment of whipping and to have thirty stripes apiece — one called Victor, a Dutchman, the other a Scotchman called James Gregory, shall first serve out their times with their master according to their Indentures, and one whole year apiece after the time of their service is Expired; by their said Indentures in recompense of his Loss sustained by their absence and after that service to their said master is Expired to serve the colony for three whole years apiece; and that the third being a Negro named John Punch, shall serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural Life here or elsewhere.”
Where there’s smoke there’s fire.
A lot to unpack but colonial America was far more complicated than what they are telling us.
DO NOT CHANGE YOUR LAST NAMES
