During the Colonial era, blacks and whites were categorized as indentured servants, until early laws were enacted forcing black indentured servants into slave labor. The idea of black subordination evolved over time and was still being established in 1820 when the first image of blacks on United States currency appeared.

"First Image" is the first know depiction of African Americans on American money. Unlike the images, which follow it, there is no apparent suggestion of subordination in the relationships between blacks and whites in the scene. Notice how the artist John W. Jones conveys this point visually by comparing his rendering of the sky in “First Image” to that in “Overseer with Whip.”