...Racism v. Slavery Although Western European explorers treated Africans as chattel during the African slave trade, racism did not play a component in who were considered slaves. Racism did not create slavery, slavery created racism. Africans being used as chattel was a result of competition between the Americas and East Asia. The Europeans simply did not want Asia to have superiority over them. Africans were sold into two distinct slave trades, the Atlantic slave trade and the trans-Saharan slave trade. The Atlantic slave trade was predominantly composed of African males. The purpose of these males was to provide hard labor in the fields as gardeners and harvesters. Unlike, the Atlantic slave trade, the trans-Saharan slave trade included...
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...Transatlantic Slave Trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade took place across the Atlantic Ocean from the 16th through to the 19th centuries. The vast majority of slaves transported to the New World were Africans from the central and western parts of the continent, sold by Africans to European slave traders who then transported them to North and South America. The numbers were so great that Africans who came by way of the slave trade became the most numerous Old World immigrants in both North and South America before the late eighteenth century. The South Atlantic economic system centered on making goods and clothing to sell in Europe and increasing the numbers of African slaves brought to the New World. This was crucial to those European countries which, in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, were vying with each other to create overseas empires. The evolution of slavery is crucial to understanding the importance of currently standing issues. Slavery began in 1440 when Portugal started to trade slaves with West Africa. The first Africans imported to the English colonies were also called “indentured servants” or “apprentices for life”. By the middle of the sixteenth century, they and their offspring were legally the property of their owners. As property, they were merchandise or units of labor, and were sold at markets with other goods and services. By the 17th century, Western Europeans developed an organized system of trading slaves. However...
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...“The history of the Caribbean is a history of exploitation of labor’’. The exploitation of labor is one of the most common issues faced in terms of human rights in certain countries. To gain power and wealth is only one of the reasons that exploitation of labor is a major issue. People use their power to take advantage of the less fortunate. Exploitation can be defined as an act of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work or to fulfill their own selfish purposes, whereas labor is defined as the use of physical and mental efforts in the creation of goods and services. So based on Caribbean history even laborers before the 20th century were taken advantage by their owners to gain benefits. Firstly the exploitation of the Caribbean with reference to the encomienda labor system. This system was created in 1512 by the Spanish to control and regulate American Indian labors (Arawaks/Tainos) during the colonization of the Americas. The word ‘encomienda’ comes from the Spanish word encomendar, "to entrust." The encomienda system was the earliest introduction of inhumane slavery as historians believed as one of the most damaging institutions that the Spanish colonists implemented in the New World. In the Americas, the first encomiendas were handed out by Christopher Columbus and institutionalized by Governor Nicolas de Ovando (1503) in the Caribbean. The Spaniards were referred to as the ecomendero because their responsibility was to ensure the well being of the...
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...The middle passage has its own history of cruelty and violence. During the Atlantic slave trades, the middle passage connected Africa with the Americas. During the passages, the healthy as well as physical conditions were responsible for the loss of life of many slave men, women and children. The slaves were kept in shackles however, the women and children were treated slightly better but the treatment was still inadequate, because after all they were still a slave. The conditions for slaves were so bad that prior to the 18th century, an estimated 13% of the captured slaves did not survive the journey to the New World. Another cause of death was the slaves intentionally starving themselves as a form of rebellion; however, if they were caught...
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...split in Islam (D) Originated in India, with blend of Muslim and Hindu beliefs (E) Developed in Central America s a protest to Spanish-imposed Christianity 4. Which of the following decisions by the Portuguese most directly affected the Arab African cities of the east coast of Africa? (A) to trade only from coastal centers (B) to monopolize the Indian Ocean trade (C) to set up an African trading network that included the interior trade routes of the Sahara (D) to allow Christian missionaries to evangelize in the cities of the east coast (E) to start navigators’ school in Portugal 5. All of the following are common problems that the Muslim Empires of 1450-1750 shared EXCEPT: (A) Sunni-controlled governments whose power was seriously challenged by a Shiʻa minority (B) Inadequate transportation and systems for their armies (C) Unruly warrior elites that challenged government (D) Inadequate bureaucracies that could not adequately govern or keep in touch with citizens (E) The rise of the European rivals who ultimately built stronger militaries than they did 6. Which of the following European powers established hegemony over the Indian Ocean trade during the 16th century? (A) Dutch...
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...provided one of the most detailed and descriptive accounts ever recorded in history about a thriving slave society. The society which he wrote so much about was Surinam. Located on the northwest corner of Brazil, Stedman was sent to Surinam from the Netherlands to help put down a slave revolt that was threatening the existence of the colony. Throughout his stay Stedman wrote about all that he saw. One thing that became a focus of his writings was the issue of slavery. He wrote about specific slaves and Negros he came in contact with, the perception that others had of these people, the treatment of these slaves and the rising tensions and conflicts between the revolting slaves and the colonists. At times he would write in a tone that sensed he favored abolishing slavery but this was far from the case. Stedman never acknowledged that he wanted to end slavery but rather he expressed his concerns and feelings towards the ways that slavery could be improved in the colony but still present and a vital part to the land. The reasons for this are that he felt slavery was not wrong, he realized how crucial slavery was to the economic success of the colony and the consequences that would arise from freeing the slaves. One of Stedman’s main points throughout this entire book was that he was not against the idea of slavery. “From all this I must conclude that this trade, or buying of Negro slaves, is not so bad a thing as some try to support, while it is the effects that follow from it alone...
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...islands in the central Atlantic Ocean. It is located roughly 350 miles off the coast of Western Africa; the islands cover a combined area of slightly over 1,500 square miles. Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the uninhabited islands, and it became the first European settlement in the tropics. It is located in an area that held the possibility of allowing the land for use in the Atlantic slave trade. The islands began to grow prosperous and often attracted privateers and pirates. Charles Darwin also visited the islands...
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...Olaudah Equiano was enslaved during the historic Atlantic Slave Trade, in the late 1700’s and into the 1800’s. Though nobody could argue that slavery was “good” or even “humane,” Equiano did have the fortune of learning skills most other slaves didn’t while serving his master. Equiano learned the skills of writing and arithmetic, among others, and was able to buy his freedom after laboring for years. After he earned his freedom, Equiano became an abolitionist speaker and writer, striving to rid the world of slavery. He wrote an autobiography entitled The Life of Olaudah Equiano, which was first published in 1789, but revised and released yet again in 1814. Assumably, words were very important to Equiano and chosen with care. The excerpt...
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...flight is understood as escape from the oppression of slavery. The main purpose of this myth of flight in the novel is to give hope to African Americans during a time where racial tensions are very much a part of their everyday lives. In this essay, I will argue that the myth of flight plays both a positive and negative role throughout this novel. It plays a positive role in that it seems to give Milkman a sort of pride in his ancestors that he did not have before he learned of the myth of Solomon’s Leap. Milkman, after learning about his parents’ marriage from both his mother and father, seems to shun his family and lose interest in his people that came before him, but after hearing about his great grandfather, he becomes proud of his lineage and gains a sense of liberation from the life he has led up to this point. However, while this myth of flight enables Morrison’s male protagonist to thrive, there are also negative consequences that Morrison asks us to consider, namely the effects of this myth on the ones left behind, the women and children. The Exodus story tells of the Israelites, who were being held as slaves in Egypt until they were liberated from their oppression by Moses, who was sent by God. The story tells of their flight from Egypt into the wilderness and, after many years of wandering, their eventual arrival in the Promised Land. Since the days of the Atlantic Slave Trade, African American slaves have looked to this story as one of hope for their own situation, as...
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...History books mainly reflect the involvement of men. The abolitionists (Clarkson and Wilberforce), the Slave traders (Canot) and the enslaved (Equaino). In portrayal of enslaved people, men appear more frequently. In the movie Amistad it is told from the point of view of Cinque; in the TV series Roots it follows Kunta Kinte. This male dominated history fails to acknowledge, belittles and devalues the role of women at all levels of slavery. What about the female slave traders, slave owners, enslaved females, female rebels and abolitionists? Are they really invisible? Verene Shepherd, in Women in Caribbean History states that up until the 1970s Caribbean books neglected women because early historians looked at colonisation, government, religion, trade and war fare, activities men were more involved in. Also some historians felt that women’s issues did not merit inclusion and where women could have been included, such as slave uprisings, their contributions were ignored. Shepherd believes changes occurred with the influence of women’s groups who tried to correct the gender neutral or male biased history. There was also a shift into social history, looking at the non elite and into topics such as family life. Books started to look at women’s social and political activities. Unfortunately there was a lack of first hand accounts from the period of the transatlantic slave trade – accounts written by men at the time either ignored women or perpetuated the myth of female inferiority...
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...African’s account of the “middle passage”: the horrible trip that slaves had to endure to arrive in the Americas. Slaves were captured in Africa, carried to the seacoast, sold to European traders, then carried on slave ships to the New World. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1) To what extent is African slavery, as described in Equiano’s account, different from slavery practiced by Europeans in the Atlantic economy? 2) Based on information in this passage, to what extent can white people be blamed for the African slave trade? 3) Equiano later rose to be an advocate for the abolition of the slave trade. To what degree do you think that his biography is biased, colored by his political agenda? 1. I hope the reader will not think I have trespassed on his patience in introducing myself to him with some account of the manners and customs of my country. They had been implanted in me with great care, and made an impression on my mind, which time could not erase, and which all the adversity and variety of fortune I have since experienced served only to rivet and record; for, whether the love of one's country be real or imaginary, or a lesson of reason, or an instinct of nature, I still look back with pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though that pleasure has been for the most part mingled with sorrow. 2. I have already acquainted the reader with the time and place of my birth. My father, besides many slaves, had a numerous family, of which seven lived to grow up,...
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...NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE COURSE CODE:POL 122 COURSE TITLE:INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS POL 122 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS COURSE GUIDE POL 122 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS Course Writer/Developer Mr. Sikiru Lanre Nurudeen Department of Political Science and Conflict Resolution Al – Hikmah University, Ilorin Kwara State Course Editor Prof. M. Olarotimi Ajayi Faculty of Social Sciences Covenant University Otta Course Coordinator Mr. Abdul-Rahoof A. Bello National Open University of Nigeria ii POL 122 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA National Open University of Nigeria Headquarters 14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way Victoria Island Lagos Abuja Office No. 5 Dar es Salaam Street Off Aminu Kano Crescent Wuse II, Abuja Nigeria e-mail: centralinfo@nou.edu.ng URL: www.nou.edu.ng Published by National Open University of Nigeria Printed 2009 ISBN: 978-058-415-3 All Rights Reserved iii POL 122 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS CONTENTS PAGE Introduction ………………………………………….…………… 1 Course Aims ……………………………………………………… 1 Course Objectives ………………………………………………... 1 Working through Course……………………………………. This 2 Course Materials………………………………………………….. 2 Study Units………………………………………………………. . 2 Text books and References……………………………………….. 3 Assessment File…………………………………………………… 3 Tutor-Marked Assignment ……………………….. ……………… 4 iv POL 122 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS Final Examination Grading…………………………………...
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...A Brief Overview of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade David Eltis(Emory University), 2007 The trans-Atlantic slave trade was the largest long-distance coerced movement of people in history and, prior to the mid-nineteenth century, formed the major demographic well-spring for the re-peopling of the Americas following the collapse of the Amerindian population. Cumulatively, as late as 1820, nearly four Africans had crossed the Atlantic for every European, and, given the differences in the sex ratios between European and African migrant streams, about four out of every five females that traversed the Atlantic were from Africa. From the late fifteenth century, the Atlantic Ocean, once a formidable barrier that prevented regular interaction between those peoples inhabiting the four continents it touched, became a commercial highway that integrated the histories of Africa, Europe, and the Americas for the first time. As the above figures suggest, slavery and the slave trade were the linchpins of this process. With the decline of the Amerindian population, labor from Africa formed the basis of the exploitation of the gold and agricultural resources of the export sectors of the Americas, with sugar plantations absorbing well over two thirds of slaves carried across the Atlantic by the major European and Euro-American powers. For several centuries slaves were the most important reason for contact between Europeans and Africans. What can explain this extraordinary migration, organized...
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...Someone Knows My Name Narrator’s Journal This is probably the most difficult piece of literature I have ever written. Putting myself into the shoes of the many slaves that were being discriminated against was very hard, and not something I could ever picture myself living through. Creating the character of Aminata Diallo was also something that was very challenging for me as a writer. I was writing the story as if I was a woman, a young woman at first that gradually aged throughout the years through different places with many slave owners. I had to capture the feeling of what I think it would have been like if I were in Aminata’s shoes and being sold as a slave. This was the absolute most challenging part of writing this novel. Aminata is such a heroic and charismatic character, that even though she goes through so many problems, and sees so many horrific sights throughout her life, watching her friends be beaten, and so on, I really felt that in order to make this novel a success, I needed to sit there and really think about the character that I wanted to create and bring to life in this novel. I also wanted to make sure that Aminata possessed some skills that the other slaves were not fortunate enough to have learned. For example, Aminata possesses the skills of a midwife, she was taught this by her mother at a young age. I also felt it was necessary that Aminata learned how to read and write. When writing the novel, I also felt it was necessary to have Aminata torn from...
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...believe it truthfully portrayed an adaptation of what actually happened and what captured Africans were subjected to against their will. For me, one of the most significant parts of this film in the present day was the number of extremely well-known actors and who took part in the production of the piece directed by none other than Stephen Spielberg. Historical non-fiction is not a common topic in the movie industry, especially not those that expose events that depict America in a less-than-perfect light. I thought it was greatly significant that so many celebrities would assemble to create this film that could stir up controversy in its portrayal of actual events, revealing the dehumanizing treatment of Africans during the time of the Slave Trade. Amistad is a film that undeniably makes an impact on whoever watches it, and I found it impressive that so many public figures would come together to work and make that statement unashamedly, not to mention the movie’s favorable box office results. The events of history the film reveals are brought to attention in the contemporary world, and even with its few inaccuracies, the movie educates its viewers, bringing history into the present day in a medium to which the public can easily relate. I find this important because often it seems that the general American public chooses to ignore the truth of the past or is simply ignorant of what horrific practices were in place in this country’s not-too-distant history. Though the imagery and...
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