...The commodities they produced provided the foundation of the development of America’s economy and structured was by enslaved Africans and African Americans, African Americans reclaimed their freedom, but the weight of slavery’s history was not easily obliterated, as slavery continued to cast a long shadow over the state. Blacks have endured poverty and discrimination into the twenty-first century. The legacy of Slavery has been a part of American history since the very beginning Americas sold slaves and purchased them without fear of violating either the laws as they were expendable tools for their own means and benefits They were forced into labor and treated like property. The main reason and purpose of slavery were for profit. Slave...
Words: 1129 - Pages: 5
...The Melting Pot Illusion: Understanding Race and Power by Rethinking American History Race in Media Mid-Term Paper April 18, 2014 When it comes to race in the United States, America has always thought of itself as a racial and ethnic melting pot. This “melting pot” message has always been known throughout the world as a key aspect of America’s national identity, built on the promise that all people of various colors, races and ethnic backgrounds are afforded basic civil freedoms and opportunities to pursue their dreams within a democratic society. In fact, in school classrooms throughout the United States, where most of us received our initial understanding of American history, we often witness a romanticized narrative of Americans striving forward towards progress with limited or partial understanding of race, the complex story of Native Americans and their removal from conquered lands, and the enslavement of African-Americans. The purpose of this essay is to rethink prior understandings of American history and what race means, as well as how it has determined and limited citizenship and opportunity for some Americans, by exploring the voices in author Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove’s book Voices of a People’s History of the United States and other literary sources, and what American citizenship means to those not designated white, rich or male. The definition and concept of race, a human classification system used to group human beings into large and distinct...
Words: 2171 - Pages: 9
...trade in which millions of people from Africa were shipped to the New World, as part of the Atlantic slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods, which were traded for purchased or kidnapped Africans, who were transported across the Atlantic as slaves; the slaves were then sold or traded for raw materials, which would be transported back to Europe to complete the voyage. The journey of slave trading ships was from the west coast of Africa, where the slaves were obtained, across the Atlantic, where they were sold or, in some cases, traded for goods such as molasses, which was used in the making of rum. However, this voyage has come to be remembered for much more than simply the transport and sale of slaves. The Middle Passage was the longest, hardest, most dangerous, and also most horrific part of the journey of the slave ships. With extremely tightly packed loads of human cargo that stank and carried both infectious disease and death, the ships would travel east to west across the Atlantic on a miserable voyage lasting at least five weeks, and sometimes as long as three months. Although incredibly profitable for both its participants and their investing backers, the terrible Middle Passage has come to represent the ultimate in human misery and suffering. The abominable and inhuman conditions which the Africans were faced with on their voyage clearly display the great evil of the slave trade. During the Middle Passage and in the initial stages of...
Words: 662 - Pages: 3
...though both emerging from an African American heritage, do not reflect the same level of distinct racial aesthetic and beliefs. Through his revelations in ceramics, Drake addresses protest against societal tyranny and raises an emotion of hope for people held back. Edmonia Lewis’ handiwork in sculpture illustrates the act of defiance and a showcase of freedom associated with slaves, but her sculpture includes a dynamic degree that speaks to additional societal expectations. Consequentially, Drake’s exhibition has a higher reflection of African American cultural aspects. Drake the Potter’s vehicle of pottery establishes a challenge against slave oppression. Looking at Storage Jar, 13 May 1859, it is reminiscent of the African style vessel. This is not only because of the shape, but it is also because Africans typically created vessels for utilitarian uses, and Drake inscribed that this particular jar is a storage container. Decoration and display were the main purpose of an American...
Words: 777 - Pages: 4
...From the civilizations of ancient Greece, 1754 BC. (Wikipedia, 2016) to American slavery in the 17th century. American slavery overtime grew to be one of the major forces that divided the United States, especially in the American Civil war in the 1860s. Prior to the United State’s independence in 1776 , slavery was not really thought about if it was right or wrong. It was done in order to keep up with the economic necessities that the rise in tobacco cultivation had made. Once the Declaration of Independence in 1776 stated that “all men are created equal, [and] that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”, the conversation started about who is equal. All men? Or just white men, excluding women and people of color? Although the Declaration of Independence was to cut the ties with the royal crown of Britain and to have liberty, it imposed a new rule and enslavement over another group of...
Words: 1247 - Pages: 5
...Sam Tran Freeman Derryl Ethnic 100 March 03, 2017 Midterm essay Though both African American and Native Americans shared the bottom of the American social ladder and suffered from prejudice and discrimination, their lives were somewhat different. Both suffered at the hands of whites, but Native Americans suffered more due to the fact of destruction of their society and land lost. On the other hand, African American were being more challenged in term of improving the condition from nothing. One thing is certain that America must always remember the hardships it forced African American and American Indian to endure for no other reasons than the greed, hatred, ignorance, and racism that allow discrimination to thrive. During the period of the...
Words: 946 - Pages: 4
...about. The secrets about slavery most people do not know is, enslavement of Africans occured because there was a massive demand for labor, people were benefitting for it, and also it was justified. In the late 1400s, Atlantic Slave Trade started within three continents; North America, Europe, and Africa. Which resulted in the exchangement of ten million Africans to the Americas. This idea of expanding labour through slavery affected the world. Even though slavery is a horrible and an evil act, in the 1400s there was a massive demand for labor and most of the labor needed in the New Colonies were very intense and there was not enough settlers and indentured servants, a...
Words: 730 - Pages: 3
...In 1619, a Spanish slave ship transporting African Americans was raided by Dutch traders who stole each slave for themselves. Ever since 1619, the reoccurring issue of worldwide slavery continues and only shows signs of increasing numbers. Though passing laws helped abolish most slavery in the past, new methods for modern slavery push the effects of the laws to the side; however, with upcoming generation’s involvement a solution to abolish slavery entirely could be closer than society believes. By increasing our economy’s knowledge of what causes slavery, what slaveholders force their slaves to do, and how slavery affects everyone, a solution to slavery will begin to glimmer from its opaque shadows. According to Kevin Bales, who gave a speech on Ted Talk about slavery, the reasons for slavery include population expansion and extreme poverty. Around 1940, the world’s population accumulated to 2.3 billion which allowed only a few people to become enslaved for distribution to all slaveholders worldwide; however, around 1980 the population skyrocketed to 8.2 billion. Once the population struck 8.3 billion, slaveholders began buying and distributing many African...
Words: 486 - Pages: 2
...(merriam-webster.com). “The paying of descendants of enslaved Africans for free labor of their ancestors. Supporters argue that the government of the United States at one time sanctioned enslavement and now it should try to remedy the effects of it by paying the descendants of the enslaved for their work” (Asante, Molefi Kete 486). I interviewed a diverse group and asked if they felt that due to the long stretch of years of oppression and torture African Americans have gone through in this country should they be given reparations and if so how. The group I interviewed included family, friends and co-workers: my son a seventeen year old African American male who is Baptist, a co-worker a twenty-five year old Caucasian female who is Catholic, a co-worker a forty-four year old Latin American male who is Catholic, and a good friend a thirty-five year old African American female who is Muslim. The twenty-five year old Caucasian female believes that there is no price for compensation applicable to those today that had their enslaved ancestors suffer. Even if compensation were given it is impossible to determine who would receive what depending on who were their ancestor and their direct relation. The amount of pain and suffering that they had to endure, the type of torture that they had to go through and how they were discriminated against would also be a factor. The government would be contradicting itself because they felt that enslavement was legal and that they...
Words: 804 - Pages: 4
... the same exact traits used by the English “to depict the Irish as savage in the seventeenth century were used to classify African Americans and Native Americans as savages during the following three centuries” (Baker, 12). This implies that England is the country where the origin of racial categories dates back to. It came to be when the English were in conflict with the Irish. And while it was not a direct contributing factor, this may have eventually led a contributing factor to the idea of categorizing people in the United States which was conquered by many early European settlers. According to the lecture slides, the term “race” in the United States “was a social mechanism invented during the 18th century to refer to those populations brought together in colonial America: the English and other European settlers, the conquered Indian peoples, and those peoples of Africa brought in to provide slave labor” (Stovall, 12). This means that the term is utilized by certain people in the United States to refer to people of different physical, social, and cultural...
Words: 659 - Pages: 3
...Daryl Smith Introduction to African-American Studies March 23, 2014 Professor Yeboah Midterm Paper: Essay Questions 1. Describe (3) three African (Ancient or Medieval) civilizations that pre-date enslavement? Kush, Axum, and Ghana are three Ancient African civilizations that pre-date enslavement. The Kush civilization started in 1700 BC, where it reached its first peak. Its second peak dated to 1500 BC. The Kingdom of the Kush was also known as Nubia. It is located south of Egypt and was built at the bottom of the mountains, beginning at the Nile River. The Kush kingdom was exceptionally wealthy with many natural resources. They had gold mines, iron ore, and rich soil. Their soil was rich due to the ample amount of rainfall they had all year long, which kept all of the natural resources fresh and growing. Many kingdoms were jealous of the Kush’s wealth and prosperity, and wanted to take it over, but the Kush did now allow it to happen. The “Iron Age” was when iron ore was at its peak and every kingdom wanted it to make weapons and tools. Kush was the center of the iron trade in ancient Africa. Burnt wood was needed to produce iron from ore and because wood was running out, the Kush had to trade other goods. The Kush was the reason for the Trans- Saharan Trade Route. In 750 CE, the Kush used camels and camel trains to cross the sand. They knew it was a miserable and dangerous journey, but knew it could be done. Attention was then turned to trade with West...
Words: 1089 - Pages: 5
...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 Tainos by offering protections from pirates, educated about new Spanish language, provide them with food, clothing and instruct them on...
Words: 1018 - Pages: 5
...In the 18th to 19th century, slave institutions were dominant in America. The most afflicted people were the Africans and the African Americans. However, not everyone supported the idea of slavery in such a first-class nation. Some were against it, and they struggled to ensure that the inhuman act was stopped. Thomas Jefferson was against the institution of slavery in America. His personal views can be well traced from notes and letters he sent to various leaders. For one, Jefferson was against slavery because he believed that all men were created equal. No man is superior than the other, and hence slavery was an inhuman act that set the victims to pain and torture. He thought that white man was just as equal to black man and there should be no difference in the manner that the two are treated. In his reply letter to Mr. Benjamin Banneker on August 30, 1791, he expressed how a black man has equal talent as a white man (Letter to Benjamin Banneker). None of these individuals should live in degraded conditions. Color does not justify slavery of the Africans and African Americans. To Jefferson, the institutions of slavery were a source of division. The white men intended to retain and enslave black men in American so that they would save the...
Words: 606 - Pages: 3
...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
...African-Americans have been fighting to end racial discrimination and attain equality and their due civil rights ever since slavery began here in the United States. Slavery started many years before the first slaves came to the United States in the year 1619. Dutch and Portuguese explorers started slavery by kidnapping men, women and children from West and Central Africa. Many Africans lost their lives during the kidnappings in the initial struggle of fighting for their freedom and to remain in their native country. It was not uncommon for the newly kidnapped African slaves to rebel and to commit suicide as well. T.L. Snyder (2010), a Professor of American Studies at California State University in Fullerton, California wrote that “from the start of the transatlantic slave trade, mariners, merchants, and masters exchanged reports of slave suicide along with their human traffic, and they noted alarmingly that captive Africans often responded to enslavement by destroying themselves.” Slavery, for hundreds of years, would cause additional loss of life and suicide resulting from the destruction to the slave’s dignity and pride, the displacement from family and country, loss of personal freedom, brutal mistreatments of rape, whipping, shackles, poor hygienic conditions and inadequate nutrition provided by clave traders and slave masters. The enduring fight and struggles to end racial discrimination plus attain equality and civil rights will continue to be an ongoing battle...
Words: 252 - Pages: 2
