Preview

African American Influence On Slavery

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
496 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
African American Influence On Slavery
History has had an immersive influence on our lives today. Slavery is a sensitive subject to discuss, but it’s vital to get to the root of influences in African Americans lives. Africans experienced murky times in the 1600’s, they had their freedom revoked from them and was coerced to do free labor, known as Slavery. African slaves was not treated with rights like the colonist; they were treated and viewed equivalent to modern day machines; managed what needed to be managed, fixed what needed to be fix, and replaced what needed to be replaced. Slaves were originally promised land and freedom in exchange for seven years of labor, but as the colonies prospered the colonist were reluctant to lose their labor. In 1641 slavery became legalized; African …show more content…
Slaves that had lighter complexions usually worked inside doing house labor, while the darker slaves worked the plantation. The house slaves were feed food that the white counterparts ate, while the darker slaves were feed food that neither the slave owners nor the house slaves wanted. Some of the food given to slaves was unsuited for animals. The lighter slaves would travel places with their slave owners. The lighter slaves wore clothes that were finer than the darker slaves. The darker slaves worked flagging labor from sun up to sun down and risked punishment for poorly completely task. The house slaves just followed orders. Lighter skin meant better treatment. Slavery went a bit further than just slave owner mistreatment. These things lead to slaves showing contempt to each other. Slave owners would use fear to keep slaves docile. Children would undergo mistreatment and beatings; some were punished like adults. It’s critical to understand that slavery was never a choice, you were born into it. Growing up into slavery was considered normal and fair. Slaves and White people were conditioned by each other that the lighter skin was more
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Summary Of Creating Black Americans: African-American History
    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Summary Of Creating Black Americans: African-American History

    In Chapters 7 and 8 of the book Creating Black Americans: African-American History and its meanings, 1619 to the present by Nell Irvin Painter, the author shows that even after emancipation, African Americans made huge steps in the advancement of their own education and professional lives, even when faced with white supremacy groups that were doing everything in their power to push blacks back into being slaves and a subordinate people. This idea is shown when Painter says, “But black success threatened and sometimes enraged Southerners unwilling to share power with people they considered little more than slaves” (Painter 178). In saying this she shows us that even though African Americans were now “free”, they were still struggling to survive…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Historical Report on Race Eth/125
    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Historical Report on Race Eth/125

    You may be surprised to find out that the first Africans came to North America a full year before the Mayflower ever landed at Plymouth Rock. The first slave cargo arrived in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1619 with Africans that forced to aid in the production process of tobacco (History, 2013). Slavery grew over the next two hundred years and by the early 1800s Northern states were no longer considered slavery states. The Southern states continued their practice of slavery and this division of North and South is a major reason for the emergence of the American Civil War that began in 1861. At the end of the Civil War in 1865 all slaves were considered free U.S. citizens with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the addition of the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery in the United States. The African American population thinking that they were free and equal later realized that the white majority did not view them in this manner (Smithsonian National Museum of American History, 2013). In the early 1900s Jim Crow laws would bring about segregation and prohibit Blacks from attending the same schools as whites, and even go as far as dictating what water fountains and bathrooms each race had to use. A Civil Rights movement came about and granted all African American’s the same rights as any other person in the United States. To this day though I am sure you are aware that there is discrimination and even racial profiling that still exists against the African American population..…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Prejudice in the early 20th century
    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Prejudice in the early 20th century

    African Americans were slaves for an extended period of time. They were beaten, tortured, and were forced to do strenuous work instead of gaining the freedom that they deserved. They weren’t paid to do the tasks that they did for the community and their owners that “bought” them. Contradictory to the freedom that they had earned through the civil war, they had to do…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Historical Context of Slavery
    • 507 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Historical Context of Slavery

    In the antebellum South, slavery provided the economic foundation that supported the dominant planter ruling class. Under slavery the structure of white supremacy was hierarchical and patriarchal, resting on male privilege and masculinist honor, entrenched economic power, and raw force. Black people necessarily developed their sense of identity, family relations, communal values, religion, and to an impressive extent their cultural autonomy by exploiting contradictions and opportunities within a complex fabric of paternalistic give-and-take. The working relationships and sometimes tacit expectations and obligations between slave and slaveholder made possible a functional, and in some cases highly profitable, economic system. Despite the exploitativeness and oppression of this system, slaves emerge in numerous antebellum slave narratives as actively, sometimes aggressively, in search of freedom, whether in the…

    • 507 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Book Review: Uncle Tom's Cabin
    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Book Review: Uncle Tom's Cabin

    Although slavery has always been one of the most influential things in shaping what is America today, it was not always like how people picture it in the modern day, aka: “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. In early seventeenth century Chesapeake region, slaves were kind of treated like indentured servants. They were granted freedom at a certain point in time, whereas slaves in the nineteenth-century were almost never granted freedom by their owners and were treated as property rather than humans due to things like rebellions (such as Shay’s Rebellion or Bacon’s Rebellion). In the early 17th century, slavery was not yet established. Whites would treat slaves and indentured servants almost equally and they weren’t as cruel with them. Slaves in the Chesapeake region were tied to their master just like slaves in the south during the 19th century, but there were certain distinctions between them concerning working conditions and African American culture. In the 17th century, slaves were not put under absolutely terrible working conditions; they were tolerable. A few of the earliest African immigrants gained their freedom and some even became slaveowners themselves. Also, blacks in the tobacco-growing Chesapeake had a somewhat easier lot. Tobacco was a less physically demanding crop than those of the deeper south. However, African Americans in the 19th century had far worse working conditions. Cotton picking before Eli Whitney’s cotton gin was torture and an extreme hazard for the men, women, and even children working in cotton fields. Slaves in the 17th and 19th century also had distinctions in their culture. In the 17th century Chesapeake region, African Americans contributed to the stable growth of a slave culture including: speech, religion, and folkways. They developed a new language called Gullah which used words we still use today like goober, gumbo, and voodoo. They also introduced the ringshot, a West African religious dance and eventually contributed to the development of…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Final Paper
    • 2520 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Final Paper

    During the nineteenth century, radical change occurred throughout the political and legal rank of African Americans. Blacks were freed from the slavery they had endured for years, and were finally able to enjoy life. Despite the developments and changes, many fiscal and visual (how they were perceived) characteristics of African Americans at the end of the nineteenth century did not differ from that of the mid-1800s. Unit I, life for African Americans during 1865 to 1876, was a lot better than the previous years before. A lot of things started happening for the African American people, in their favor, but still didn’t make everything easier for them right away. They still struggled to find their place and to fit in with society. Even though slaves were free to be citizens of the United States, they still struggled for the same rights they were trying for in the first place.…

    • 2520 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lasting Effects Slavery Has Had on African American Culture
    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lasting Effects Slavery Has Had on African American Culture

    During the colonial period early American settlers came up with the idea to bring African natives overseas to America and use them as slaves. The white man was higher up than the black man in society at the time because of the color of his skin. Americans consider this the biggest blight on our history. The shame of this period in our history still continues today for many whites, but many blacks still feel angry and oppressed. With the election of our first black president, we are really showing how anything is possible here in America and that it doesn’t matter what color or ethnicity you are.…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    The Historical Progression of African Americans
    • 4532 Words
    • 19 Pages

    The Historical Progression of African Americans

    America in 1857 was a “Nation on the Brink.” Relationships between the Northern and Southern states had been strained for decades. During the 1850 's, the situation exploded. The Compromise of 1850 served as a clear warning that the slavery issue—relatively dormant since the Missouri Compromise of 1820—had returned. African Americans existence in America has been a disaster ever since they have been here. Every avenue of their cultural, economic, literary, political, religious, and social values has been violated to no avail, and then only until the early 60s were there noticeable changes.…

    • 4532 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What Is The Impact Of Slavery On African American Culture
    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What Is The Impact Of Slavery On African American Culture

    A topic that I really enjoyed learning about this semester was the topic of slavery and how it affected the African Americans that were living in our county. Slavery was very interesting to me because I was able to learning about the struggles that African Americans and how they were able to overcome these difficult times. Through this, I was able to learn that anything about slavery can be related to the Haitian revolution because in the haitian revolution, slaves rebelled because they wanted their freedom and rights. This corresponds to American slavery because through the course of the topic, slaves never stopped fighting for what they believed in and never gave up hope for a new day and age where they would be able to walk alongside white…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of African American Stereotypes
    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Examples Of African American Stereotypes

    Although the introduction of African chattel slave labor into the United states since the fifteen hundreds is common knowledge, many people tend to ignore the lingering and shameful legacies that it has imprinted on American culture and society. Many parts of American ideals and perceptions today of African Americans stem solely from the institution of slavery and the oppressing racist intents of their originators. Stereotypes about African Americans are not as simple as people may view them to be. They are the results of a well rooted and hateful campaign against a group of people forced to provide free labor. They are the direct result of the attempt to dehumanize the slave and the encouragement of inferiority. In the book “Black Culture and Black Consciousness” Lawrence Levine writes: “ It is not necessary for a people to originate or invent all or even most of the elements of their culture. It is necessary only that these components become their own, embedded in their traditions, expressive of their world view and life style.” This is an observational statement which may be attributed to both the positive and the negative. Most negative personal beliefs and self portrayal of the African American is a direct derivative of what has been drilled in him for generations by the advantaged…

    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Slavery and Mass Incarceration
    • 2569 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Slavery and Mass Incarceration

    The institution of slavery dates back before written records. The term slave was originally a derivative from the historical French and Latin medieval word for Slavic people of central and Eastern Europe. [ (wikipedia, 2010) ] In North America, the class system is systematically at the root of every socioeconomic and political issue resulting in Super companies, multibillionaires and the formation of lobbyists and special interest groups; there always has and always will be the have and have-nots. Unfortunately, for African Americans who have historically been the have-nots, that does not seem to have changed as evidenced by recent events like the Jenna 6. African Americans have a history uniquely intertwined with American civilization. Concerning chattel slavery in America, Blacks are still living through remnants of it redesigned to reflect a modern day perspective.…

    • 2569 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Challenges African Americans Faced in America
    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Challenges African Americans Faced in America

    African Americans had a turbulent history in the United States ever since they were brought to the country as slaves. “Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco. (Slavery in America, 2012) During the 17th and 18th centuries, slavery was practiced throughout most of the American colonies. (Slavery in America, date). During these times, the amount of slaves that were brought to America enormous and could possibly be near the 10 million mark in the 16th century. “Why did European settlers need slaves to begin with?” Well, these settlers thought that slaves could be a “cheaper, more plentiful source of organized labor than poorer Europeans.” (Slavery in America, 2012) Some of the duties of slave were to work as sharecroppers by harvesting crops on farms owned by their respective owners. Some of the crops these slaves had to pick were cotton, tobacco, rice, beans, and indigo. African slaves had no rights of their own and were considered to be property of their owners. Slaves were forbidden to learn how to read or write, leave their owner’s vicinity with the owner’s permission, or to refuse to complete any orders from their owners. If a slave decided to rebel, stand up to their owners, or fail to complete a task, the slave would be severely punished by being physical beaten, sexually abused, or have their family members sold to other slave owners. Slaves were treated this way for a number of decades and eventually become an inflammatory issue between the northern and southern states, which would lead to the Civil War. During the war, President Abraham Lincoln had a view that slaves should be free to live their own lives. President Lincoln issued the Emancipation…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The First Africans in America
    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The First Africans in America

    America is a country that is rich with history and tradition. However, there are some blemishes in the United States history that many people may like to forget. America’s early history is forever tainted and scarred with atrocities that befell a certain demographic of the population. African Americans were hugely discriminated against early on in our countries history; they faced discrimination, racism, and even enslavement. The first Africans to come to North America did not come as slaves, but started out as indentured servants. Tobacco was starting to become big in Virginia and plantation owners needed workers to work their fields. “The settlers found it difficult to subdue the Native American people, who knew the land and who lived in unified communities that had the means of self-defense” (Gale Encyclopedia). Working the fields was very hard work, which required long hours and undesirable working conditions. “At first settlers in the colonies looked to England for workers. Arriving from overseas English laborers cleared the fields for the planting and harvesting of tobacco, which sold for high price in the 1620’s and 1630’s” (Gale Encyclopedia). The first set of Africans to arrive in the United States arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in August of 1619. When these Africans arrived in Jamestown they were indentured servants, meaning they had an obligation of servitude for a period of seven years. However, it was not long before these plantation owners did away with the idea of indentured servants and unbeknownst to the African Americans they had a lifetime of slavery in store for them and future generations. “The grounds for this harsh sentence presumably lay in the fact that he [Africans] was non-Christian rather than in the fact that he was physically dark. But religious beliefs could change, while skin color could not.…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    African American Identity
    • 2208 Words
    • 9 Pages

    African American Identity

    It was a hot August day as sweat beat down on Thomas Jefferson Brown. He had been working in the field 2 hours before the hot sun had made its presence known. He looked back over the drying field, hoping that this crop would provide for his family better than last years crop had. Thomas watched his oldest son, Nathan, who worked down one row of the field while staring intently at the cotton plants as he picked the cotton. Nathan was a very inquisitive young man who had just yesterday asked his father what it was like being a slave for Mr. Walter Johnson. When his father had told him that in a lot of ways life was so much easier than now, Nathan had given him a look that allowed Thomas to know that his son could not understand. How could he understand? Nathan had not grown up a slave and seen that while it was extremely difficult, there was a feeling of stability to life then. Yes, Thomas Jefferson Brown had endured the beatings and yes he had watched as his Mother and eventually his sisters had been sexually assaulted, but how do you tell a young man such as Nathan that such was the way of life; it was to be expected, along with the comfort of knowing where your next meal was going to come from. Since Tomas had been freed after the great war, He s and his family had endured much more than that; having watched the lynching of two of his brothers and numerous friends. They were the lucky ones though, Thomas thought, while looking up at the fiery ball of heat known as the sun. They did not have to endure other hardships; their suffering was over. Yes it was hard for Nathan to know that life was indeed easier as a slave than a freed man, and maybe, just maybe, things would change during Nathan's lifetime. Thomas Jefferson Brown wiped his brow once more and continued on picking the cotton…Even though the civil war ended in 1865, African Americans still faced an uphill battle to obtain rights that were afforded other Americans. This was in…

    • 2208 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Positive Effects Of Slavery In Today's Society
    • 1780 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Positive Effects Of Slavery In Today's Society

    These issues stem from a time period when Black America were considered three fourths of a person, however in the 21st century you don’t see slavery portrayed in the typical ways we have all read in our text books. Instead it has taken on a revamped modified form that still has the debilitating effect it did 400 years ago. The effect of slavery has left an imprint on the black community as shown in today’s education systems, living conditions, and in…

    • 1780 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More