The tale begins in 1740; W. Jeffrey Bolster traces two centuries worth of untold history of African-American sailors, providing a look into the vast black mariner history and its’ connection to plantations, the Middle Passage and the New World, and its’ influence on black American history. The book aims to answer the lingering question of how seaports, serving as crossroads for people and ideas, played a role in the lives of black sailors while exploring the interaction of race and class at sea. “Black Jacks” situates black sailors at the heart of maritime history by acknowledging their roles as mediators between black and white cultures, and deepening understanding of the evoltion of black identity. He shows the determination, courage and resiliency of this group of exploited people throughout history, and broadens and emboldens collective awareness in understanding African Americans fundamental contribution to maritime history.…
eventually became reason for slaves to fight for freedom. John Brown, though his raid on…
Hicks, Bryan, and Schuyler Kropf. Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine. New York: Ballantine Books, 2002…
When a Union soldier was brought to Andersonville, he would have to fight to survive. Prisoners, fighting for their life, would steal other prisoner’s daily food, leaving them starving for that day. Confederate soldier would shoot and kill anyone who came close to the fence. Fighting would break out over who got some of the small amount of water coming in from the camp’s stream that provided water to over 40,000 inmates. Inmates would steal other’s clothes so they could make a shelter out of it. There were even accounts of murder within the prison walls.…
The ideologies that drove citizens to combat in the Civil War varied dramatically between Northern and Southern soldiers. Many soldiers who enlisted in the Federal Army of the North did so as to preserve the young nation, which had less than a century ago, gained its independence from England. The idea of “freeing the slaves” was a very small concern in the minds…
Throughout the course of history, many historians have become committed to studying the condition of slavery in the southern half of the United States. Despite this growth of interest in southern history, one aspect seldom gets addressed: the domestic slave trade. It is in Stephen Deyle’s book, Carry Me Back: The Domestic Slave Trade in American Life that the author submits that there has been a certain level of neglect about the domestic slave trade, and that the slave trade deserves further recognition because the very presence of the trade significantly influenced southern way of life. So much so, that the domestic slave trade even played out in the further divisions of the region that eventually led to secession and thus civil war.…
“africanized” the south, and strong willed, rebellious slaves and free blacks decided to not stand for their forced institution by breaking away from their physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual restraints. The “peculiar”institution [1] of southern slavery became the most trivial and horrifying…
Wendell Phillips’s speech delivered in 1861 near the beginning of the Civil War claims that African Americans should be given the right to serve in the military, for various contemporary generals were not of a European background yet brought America prominent victories that drastically influenced the course of American history. Although African Americans in the past were subjugated by the Americans on a regular basis, a few exemplary victories by African descendant generals clearly proved that African Americans should be, in fact, allowed to serve in the military as the rightful soldiers of America. Phillips uses hyperbole, understatement and metaphor to persuade the audience that the support of African American soldiers will be a contributing factor in imminent American victory.…
At the top of Butler, both Major General Butler and Lieutenant Kelly refer to Shepard Mallory as “The Negro Slave.” Neither man knows Mallory’s name. As their conversation about “The Negro Slave” continues issues of legality and more specifically the fugitive slave act are of the heart of the conversation as to what their…
Why the War Came: The Sectional Struggle over Slavery in the TerritorieLincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era: David Herbert ...…
In a period of 55 years, from 1775 to 1830, many African American slaves in the United States gained their freedom, while in other parts of the US slaves were rapidly increasing, faster than ever seen before. The reason for the simultaneous increase and decrease of slaver lies in the African Americans’ involvement in early American wars, the decisions of certain slave owners, and the spirit of equality among slaves and freemen alike. The cause of an expansion of slavery is due to the rapid growth of our country, as well as the sense of duty among slaves.…
This paper presents the life experience of two African-Americans as slaves during the nineteenth century. Henry Bibb was the author of his own narrative, which he published in 1849 with the assistance of Lucius Matlack. The second source was the narrative of W. L. Bost, a slave from North Carolina. He was interviewed as many other enslaved African-Americans by the members of the Federal Writer’s Project around the 1930s. The purpose of these narratives was to describe to the public what it meant to be slave at that period of time. Both authors recalled the difficult and cruel conditions they faced during their journey as slaves. First, they were sold as merchandises on the market. Bost depicted that both men and women were chained and inappropriately…
With the beginning of the revolutionary war in 1775, slaves were not given weapons or permitted to fight because their owners feared organized rebellions. However, several “Negro battalions” were created by Alexander Hamilton. He knew that if slaves weren’t offered freedom in America, they surely would be in Britain. To keep the large number of slaves on the rebel’s side, he granted them the opportunity to fight for their “freedom”. At the end of the war and with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, many slaves were inspired by the passionate words spoken by founding fathers and their views on equality and freedom. The revolution created a dramatic divide between the north and south. Slaves in the south were property, and slaves in the north took the role of second class intelligent servants.…
Have you ever thought about the explicit details that went into the creation of America? Slavery and the Making of America, written by James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton uses facts and stories to portray the life of slaves, and the evolution of slavery over several decades, and its effect on America today. The title of this book, Slavery and the Making of America is a great leeway into the authors’ main thesis of the book; “Slavery was, and continues to be, a critical factor in shaping the United States and all of its people. As Americans, we must understand slavery’s history if we are ever to be emancipated from its consequences,” (Horton). Throughout the six chapters in this book, the authors’ go into explicit details on what actions from both white Americans and African slaves led to the Civil War, the abolition of slavery and America as it is today.…
“The Book of Negroes is a master piece, daring and impressive in its geographic, historical and human reach, convincing in its narrative art and detail, necessary for imagining the real beyond the traces left by history.” I completely agree with The Globe and Mail’s interpretation of this story. One could almost see the desolate conditions of the slave boats and feel the pain of every person brought into slavery. Lawrence Hill created a compelling story that depicts the hard ships, emotional turmoil and bravery when he wrote The Book of Negroes.…
