...ΨΨ Slavery is an institution that has been in the world since the beginning of time. Whether it be the Roman or Greek empires, Europe, or even in Africa, slavery is in no way a unique or new concept. This institution was, however, very dynamic and fluid in character. In the New World, slavery was very much different than in any other parts of the world, and between 1619 and 1739, the character of slavery in colonial North America changed as a result of many varying factors. The enslavement of large groups of people in colonial North America was the result of European imperial drives and the need to fuel the colonization and profitability of the New World. While the use of the African people as a primary source slaves by Europeans can be traced back to at least the early 1500s, in colonial North America in the 17th and 18th centuries, the character of slavery would undergo changes in character, nature, and status. In the early 1600s, slavery was, by no means, a pleasurable or fun experience, however the conditions were a lot better than those to come. In the early 1600s the status of slaves in the colonies was significantly closer to that of their white counterparts than it would be in soon to come future. Black slaves in the fairly new colonies received treatment and status comparable to the white servants of the time. Just as the white European indentured servants, the enslaved blacks could earn their freedom in the New World after a period of servitude. Slavery in colonial...
Words: 1374 - Pages: 6
...Slavery to Freedom – African American History Nimra Jilani Los Angles Harbor College History 012 Professor KJ Hitt April 28th 2012 [pic] Slavery to Freedom – African American History The first African American arrived in the North America as servants and worked under contract from sixteenth to nineteenth century. They were brought from Africa by European Traders. In the past they were known by many names such as Negroes, Blacks and Coloureds. The term Nigger was also used for the African Americans mostly in south. More than half of the population of the African American lived in the Southern States of the America. Slavery first began in the late 16th century When African Americans were brought to American Colonies, they were bought by white masters and they had to work on tobacco and cotton farms in the South. They were not paid anything for all their hard work and living conditions were terrible for them. Slave work was very difficult. Most African American women cooked, cleaned the house and raised the children of their white owners, where as the men were trained to become carpenter or masons but most of them remained to be farmers. Most of the African Americans lived in the South where the percentage of the slavery was at its extreme. The racism towards the African Americans was at its extreme. A very famous historian Karl Marx stated In Wage Labor and Capital, Written twelve years before the civil war that: “What is a negro slave...
Words: 1847 - Pages: 8
...such caricatures “did as much harm as any lynch mob.” In many ways, this claim speaks the truth. The mammy, sambo, pickaninny, zip coon, and uncle are a few important caricatures that prove white America’s innermost fears regarding race and white superiority. The mammy caricature is one that defeminizes African American women. Drawn as a smiling, hefty servant, her loyalty to her white owner’s family trumps that to her own children. The mammy was used as evidence of the “humanity” of slavery’s institution, for she was posited as content with her lowly position. This caricature reflects the fear of mixing races. By desexualizing African American women, like the mammy, then white men would then be less likely to become sexually involved with them. Many blues artists in the 1920s-30s stood up against the mammy caricature, such as Ma Rainey; her image stood to sexualize the mammy. The sambo caricature was depicted as a perpetual child, one who was incapable of living an independent life outside of the institution of slavery. This loyal servant was offered as a defense for slavery, for if blacks like the sambo were happy being servants, what could be wrong with segregation and slavery in the first place? This caricature showcases the dependency of whites on the institution of slavery. By suggesting an image of blissful servitude, then one suggests little reason to...
Words: 769 - Pages: 4
...Rape During The Antebellum Period The first African slaves arrived in Virginia, North America in 1619. As the plantations of the antebellum south flourished, the African slave trade gained momentum. Between the 16 and 19th centuries, America had an estimated 12 million African slaves (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez ). Enslavement of the African Americans formally commenced in the 1630s and 1640s. By 1740, colonial America had a fully developed slavery system in place, granting slave owners an absolute and tyrannical life-and-death authority over their slaves or 'chattels' and their children (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez ). Stripped of any identity or rights, enslaved black men and women were considered legal non-persons, except in the event of a crime committed. Documents and research on the slave era in the antebellum south are awash with horror stories of the brutal and inhuman treatment of slaves, particularly women (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez). Considered 'properties' by their masters, enslaved black women endured physical and emotional abuse, torture, and sometimes even death. By the 1800s, slavery had percolated down mainly to the antebellum south. While a majority of enslaved men and women were designated as 'field servants' performing duties outside the house, a smaller percentage, particularly women were employed as domestics or 'house servants', mammies and surrogate mothers. In the absence of any security...
Words: 3238 - Pages: 13
...Slavery shaped every facet of the daily life of those living in the old south and even those living in the Northern Stares. Focusing primarily on the Old Southern States it is easy to see that slavery heavily affected the social, economic, religious, and political aspects of old southern life. To begin, the economic effect that slavery had on the southern states were numerous. Slavery allowed for enormous profits to be made by the America. The free labor used to pick cotton and other crops made it very profitable for the plantation owners and the owners of factories in the northern states. Another economic effect was the development of the south. Because slavery made it so profitable to continue an agricultural society, the south found very little use for industry and following the example set by the North. The social effects of slavery were also varied. One of the most important was the structure of society. The South was primarily agricultural because it was so profitable. It was therefore not necessary to develop an industrial base for society. Another social effect was the racism created by slavery. This contempt created between the races was a result of the institution of slavery. The effects of this racism were perpetuated throughout society for a very long time and are seen in our not too distant past. Religion was also affected by slavery. The result of slavery on religion was the creation of new beliefs and traditions. The slaves in the south were exposed...
Words: 3104 - Pages: 13
...the start of discrimination (Slavery in America, 2012. Sugar, rice and wheat are some of the crops that slaves tend to under the control of their slave owners. From dusk until dawn, enslaved African Americans worked to tend crops (Slavery in America, 2012). African Americans were enlisted and were forced to join the Army when Civil War came but refused to because of a law that was being upheld to keep them from enlisting. This was changed when President Lincoln submitted the Final Proclamation. There were still discrimination and segregation even though African Americans were already allowed to enlist in the army (The Civil War and Emancipation, 2012). There have been many concerns regarding African Americans participating in political causes throughout the years. There was an instance that a literacy test was done in the State of Mississippi to prevent Blacks from voting. The result was the state adopted a grandpa clause because the test caused whites from being able to vote as well. Before 1870, regardless of literacy or tax qualifications, everyone has the right to vote. The Black community was stopped to vote while whites were able to vote under grandpa clause. Several laws that supported slavery were made in the 1700s and 1800s. It is illegal to teach slaves about reading and writing under the South Carolina Act of 1740. Keeping slaves in control and not rebelling were also responsibilities of slave owners as per the law (Slavery in America, 2012). In 1739, the South Carolina...
Words: 695 - Pages: 3
...One example for this is the history of black Americans in the United States. The USA has always suffered from divisions between white and black Americans. Many times white people have stopped black people from being equal citizens. White people thought that Africans were inferior and uncivilised. This idea justified the discrimination and exploitation of black people. But of course these justifications were nonsense: There were important kingdoms and great civilisations in Africa at the same time as people in Britain were living in primitive iron-age huts. Moreover from Egypt came ideas about geometry, arithmetics and astronomy. The proofs of their skills are for example the pyramids which are also one of the seven wonders of the world. Different words have been used to describe black Americans. For a long time they were referred to as negroes and often the word ‘nigger’ was used to insult them. Many whites called them ‘coloured people’. Since the 1960’s the term ‘black’ has become normal, although some people prefer the term ‘Afro-American’ as a reminder of their original roots in Africa. THE BEGINNING OF SLAVERY IN THE US The history of blacks in North America began in 1619, when a Dutch ship brought the first Negro slaves to Virginia. The first imported Africans were brought as indentured servants, not slaves. They were required, as white indentured servants were, to serve seven years. Black people were forcibly taken from their native land. They never saw their...
Words: 6362 - Pages: 26
...Perhaps the largest paradox in United States history occurred in the eighteenth century. This paradox linked the ties between the simultaneous rise in freedom and slavery. Question historians often have while examining this century is: how could freedom be expanding while other individuals, in the same country, were being stripped of all freedoms and rights? Imprisonment of Africans not only made America economically successful, but also helped in creating social classes, helped to aid the colonists in achieving their definition of personal freedom and stopped the indentured servant system. In the 1700s, America was desperate for support from other countries, particularly France. Coincidentally, mainly slaves produced the most valuable cash...
Words: 830 - Pages: 4
...Liberty Democracy in America is a book that was published in two volumes by the French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville. The book is a summarization of Tocqueville’s tour of America in the early 1830’s. He observed the process of democracy in America, race relations, and the notion of equality, which was not bound by class as it was in aristocratic Europe. The chapter of Democracy in America that will be analyzed in this paper is titled, “Situation of the Black Race in the United States, Dangers Entailed for the Whites by Its Presence”. Slavery and American racial mores circa 1830 will be addressed as we continue. At this time, the presence of blacks is the greatest dangers threatening America. African slaves were imported to many colonies and nations other than those in North America, but none of these other slave-importing countries achieved anywhere near the economic growth seen in the United States. Bacon's Rebellion was an event that redefined the notion of race in the United States. Africans were in America long before Bacon’s Rebellion. The Great Migration was a period that the colonies were in desperate need of laborers. Blacks, along with whites, worked as indentured servants. There were black indentured servants that owned land, some even owning slaves themselves. After Bacon’s Rebellion, there was a gradual change in the status of African Americans from indentured servants to slaves. Post Bacon’s Rebellion, there was a great demand for labor and that...
Words: 935 - Pages: 4
...Africans in America: The Terrible Transformation Response/Reflection The video titled Africans in America: The Terrible Transformation thoroughly reassesses the history of slavery. The documentary tells of how slavery was brought to America, and of the conditions under which these slaves were forced to live. The trade that began in Africa was not initially focused on trading humans, but rather on gold. Gradually, the British took control and started trafficking Africans to their colonies in America. The conditions slaves lived under changed drastically from the original conditions when they first arrived to America compared to years after the slave trade had been functioning. This documentary re-examines the appalling social injustice that existed during this time period and how race was associated to such injustice. The African men and women had no idea what their life in America would be like. When the British colonies were first established, white indentured servants were typically relied on to cultivate crops. This labor force consisting of white people soon changed, and the English definition of who could be enslaved changed from non-Christian to non-white individuals. The Portuguese sailed to West Africa seeking gold. Over time, the British took control of the trade in Africa, and the trade shifted from gold to humans. Africans were needed on the plantations in America. The Europeans built factories on the West African coast to hold captives until they were shipped...
Words: 1621 - Pages: 7
...fathers established a principle that would be applicable to all men including slaves. As a result, America is known for this specific fundamental principle, that all men possess equal natural rights. In the middle of a revolution between Great Britain the founding fathers found it necessary to establish the right fundamental principles for the future of America. After signing the Declaration of Independence it was a duty for the founding fathers to adhere to it. How did the founding fathers establish a government that would lead to the abolition of slavery? They did so by establishing a government that would follow the principles stated in the Declaration of Independence. As depicted in some of Thomas Jefferson’s writings, it was necessary to end slavery and he laid out why...
Words: 1552 - Pages: 7
...compelling praise and condemnation of the history of America. Frederick Douglas wrote said speech and was able to make perfect points and examples of this country’s faults with enough passion to draw a listener/reader in. Based on the time the speech was said and the people with the amount of patriotism the audience must have had, one can assume that Douglas’ almost belittling manner of speaking to them, almost as if they were children that needed to learn a lesson, was also a technique Douglas used to his advantage to be able to make his speech listen-worthy and as compelling as it was. Douglas’ very own patriotism can be questioned throughout this speech as one can infer that his patriotism and...
Words: 2056 - Pages: 9
...1 Defending the Defenseless During the American Revolution, slavery was in the process of being abolished in Europe and in the Northern states of America. Even though parts of the world were willing to free slaves, the Southern states found ways to defend slavery. In Paul Finkelman’s book Defending Slavery: Proslavery Thought in the Old South, Finkelman provides the writings of many white leaders from the South who believed that slavery was essential to America’s society. The white leaders who spoke about proslavery included a broad range of defenses to justify themselves because they wanted Americans to believe that slavery had a lasting impact economically, religiously, legally, and racially. One of the defenders in Finkelman’s book was Thomas R.R. Cobb. He justified slavery by arguing the effects of abolition in the United States. Cobb said, “The emancipated negroes do not enjoy full and equal civil and political rights in any State in the union, except the State of Vermont” (Finkelman, 79). He was convinced that those who became free of slavery did not live a better life. He believed that any African American slave who is free is not capable of living successfully and “His moral condition compares unfavorably with that of the slave of the South” (Finkleman, 79). This argument states that African Americans who are enslaved are in better hands with the slave owners and therefore they should remain as slaves. Cobb’s defense was justifiable because he...
Words: 1323 - Pages: 6
...tragedies all which are an integral part of history. This essay will discuss how African Americans worked to end slavery, segregation, discrimination, freedom, and isolation. It will also discuss what led to the civil right implementation and how it was executed. Equal rights for African Americans have been contentious, and fought for decades. They have fought to impede ethic discrimination, gain equal opportunity and their civil rights since slavery in the 1600s. When slavery started in 1620s, African Americans only made up about 3 to 4 percent of the population in America. Although the number grew slowly at first, by the end of the 17th century, the population of African American slave grew to well over 650,000. (Becker, 2000) In America, slave labor became the key component in agriculture and booming capitalist economy of the 17th & 18th centuries. (County, 1999) In the beginning, Africans were exchanged for food and place as “indentured servants” by the Dutch. This practice was also true for many poor Englishmen who were trader for labor for passage to America. It wasn’t until around the 1680s the conception of racial-based slave system developed. (Country, 1999) African “indentured servants” were considered more valuable then poor Englishmen. Africans were skilled laborers, experts in tropical agriculture, and highly immune to tropical labor then white Englishmen. Many Native Americans were also forced...
Words: 1656 - Pages: 7
...and David Walker’s “Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World”. The essay will attempt to discuss the very famous speech Fredrick Douglas made in 1952 as well as David’s Walker’s appeal while comparing and contrasting both the appeal and the speech. Afterward, a summary will be given and a conclusion will be drawn. As we look throughout history, one would argue that we couldn’t find a more appalling and unjust act as that of slavery. Slavery played a major role of not only history but of an innumerable amount of American people. In David Walker’s appeal and Fredrick Douglass what to the slave is the fourth of July, men and women of African American descent struggle with the reality of slavery and the cruel results and affect it had on people like themselves. Fredrick Douglas was one of the most influential African Americans of his day, in spite of his inauspicious beginning, he was born into slavery on a plantation in Maryland where he was called Fredrick Augustus Washington Bailey. Douglas always suspected that his father was his mother’s white owner, Captain Aaron Anthony. He spent his early childhood in privation on the plantation then he was sent to work as a house slave for the auld family in Baltimore. There, he came in contact with printed literature and quickly realized the relationship between literacy and personal freedom. With help from Mrs. Auld, Douglas learned how to read and write. In 1833, the Aulds, sent him back to the plantation, where he soon acquired...
Words: 3165 - Pages: 13
