Essay On Why Did African Americans Survive The Institution Of Slavery

Since the arrival of African Americans in this country blacks have always had differing experiences. Consequently, African-Americans have had to forge a self-identity out of what has been passed on to them as fact about their true selves. History has wrought oppression and subjugation to this particular race of people and as a result, certain institutions were formed in order aid African-Americans, culturally, spiritually and economically. The African-American Church has served of one such institution. From the time of slavery, though outlawed, many slaves found ways to congregate and form their own "churches", away from the one-sided and bias lessons about the bible that they were being taught in the white church. The white ministers and

During a most dark and dismal time in our nations history, we find that the Africans who endured horrible circumstances during slavery, found ways of peace and hope in their religious beliefs. During slavery, African's where able to survive unbearable conditions by focusing on their spirituality.

Slave as defined by the dictionary means that a slave is a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another; a bond servant. So why is it that every time you go and visit a historical place like the Hampton-Preston mansion in Columbia South Carolina, the Lowell Factory where the mill girls work in Massachusetts or the Old town of Williamsburg Virginia they only talk about the good things that happened at these place, like such things as who owned them, who worked them, how they were financed and what life was like for the owners. They never talk about the background information of the lower level people like the slaves or servants who helped take care and run these places behind the scenes.

For almost eight decades, enslaved African-Americans living in the Antebellum South, achieved their freedom in various ways—one being religion—before the demise of the institution of slavery. It was “freedom, rather than slavery, [that] proved the greatest force for conversion among African Americans in the South” (94). Starting with the Great Awakening and continuing long after the abolition of slavery, after decades of debate, scholars conceptualized the importance of religion for enslaved African-Americans as a means of escaping the brutalities of daily life. Overall, Christianity helped enslaved African American resist the degradation

One of the first things that attracted the African American slaves to Christianity was a way of obtaining the salvation of theirs souls based on the Christian’s idea of a future reward in heaven or punishment in hell, which did not exist in their primary religion. The religious principles inherited from Africa sought purely physical salvation and excluded the salvation of the soul. However, they did believe in one supreme God, which made it easier for them to assimilate Christianity.

were on a ship and a man brings in a black woman, who was a slave. The man

African Americans have a long and rich spiritual history, which predates their arrival in the Americas. Ancient African religions and customs survived and found themselves incorporated into Christianity in the New World (Hine, Hine, Harrold). As African Americans increasingly found themselves stifled by the Christian worship services they attended, they began to found their own religious organizations. These slave organizations gave rise to the first known African American churches which arose long before the beginnings of the American Revolution (Hine, Hine, Harrold).

African American greeted freedom with mass exodus from white churches, where they had been required to worship when slaves. Some joined the newly established southern branches of all-black northern churches, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Others formed black versions of the major southern denominations, Baptist and Methodists. (Roark, Johnson, Cohen, et al. Pg. 418)

Slavery had been an existing factor, on a worldly scale, since before 1400. Before 1400, slavery had existed in the classical times of Europe. It has been, what most would consider a problem, for years, dating all the way to the modern days. Although not as evident today, slavery and segregation amongst diverse ethnic groups has been a consistent secular issue in today’s world. In order for slavery to exist, it was crucial for slaveholders to exercise their power of the captured slaves to use and control their newfound property.

African-American religion dealt with life as blacks lived it. It was about pain and sorrow, sin and shortcoming, pardon and joy, praise and thanksgiving, grace and hope. This version of Evangelicalism provided a wonderful benefit; it was able to accomplish great things in their lives that were frequently shouted about. Whether it be through a simple shout during church, or a song sung in the fields Evangelicalism took root among African-Americans. Large numbers underwent conversion, baptism, instruction, worship, and lived the life of a Christian even in face of oppression. Although, the development of their own religious institutions would await Emancipation and the war 's end, there were many thousands of Negro Baptists and Methodists by 1850, which represented what African-American religious culture had grown into.

African Americans have a long history with slavery in America. Many were brought over from their homeland through the slave trade and other means of transportation. During this time, the outlook on slavery was different. White supremacy held authority over African Americans because of their skin color and were considered property. The relationship between slave and slave owner was never at a balancing point, as power between the two were always imbalanced. It was during this time where slaves were put on the cotton fields, worked in houses, and various plantations. Treatment for these slaves was never good, as they were whipped, beaten, sold to other slave owners, and sometimes killed. Despite these conflicts, many of these slaves practiced some form of religion. Many slaves converted or were forced to convert to the religion their owner practiced.

One of the historic foundations that the United States was formed on was known as slavery. Slavery had such an immense impact on American history from the early sixteenth century to the nineteenth century. It has facilitated in shaping the modern world, in addition to slavery had a strong role in forming the United States Constitution as we know it today. Slavery refers to an individual who is owned by others and controlled by their owners. A slave was considered property, an item that has ownership, and as all items of property could be purchased and or sold by said owner, that same concept was applied to a slave. Slaves were used for many purposes, for personal services, military, and for economic production. African Americans where easy targets to enslave for the simple fact that they didn’t have guns like the Europeans, so they were not able to fight back. (http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Slavery/articles/sherwood.html) They did not have a military to defend themselves and their technology of defense was less advanced than that of America or Britain.

President Lincoln gave the black people hope and this is what they needed. Initially his decisions and actions are to preserve the Union; however, they were the black people’s only hope for freedom. President Lincoln needed the black people as much as they needed him. Southerners prideful thinking led them to believe they are superior to blacks. The South could not function without the labor of the slaves and depended on them heavily for working the fields and running households. The treatment of black slaves is unjust and cruel. Families separated from loved ones, women, and men beaten regularly. Slaves received small rations of food, denied education, and could not travel without a note. There rights completely stripped that left them with little dignity. The day that President Lincoln declared that freeing the slaves was essential in winning the war was a day of celebration! Many slaves responded by fleeing and rushing to enemy lines while for other’s it took months before finding out. Many slave owners withheld this information. The Emancipation Proclamation would ignite a series of events that would change the course of history. This is the beginning of change for our country. Blacks come together and are willing to sacrifice their lives for this cause. They realize that they need to take swift action. If the Confederacy wins the war, it will be the end of their existence.

The representative government begins with the House of Burguess. The house of Burguess as the legislature was called; they first met on July 30, 1619 in a little church in Jamestown to write the laws of Virginia. The house of Burguess remained in existence even after James I took control of Virginia. At that time there were eleven settlements in the colony. Each of them elected two, burguesses, as representatives were called.

The establishment of slavery has profoundly had an impact on the lives of African Americans both during the slavery period and after it. Many innocent Africans were taken from their home continent of Africa and brought to various places throughout the world to be sold off as slaves and forced into a system of free labor. But the system of slavery in America was a profitable, lucrative and harsh system. Slaves faced many obstacles during the period of slavery, and after the Civil War when all slaves were officially considered free. They were brought here against their own will, many died along the way here, typically from malnutrition or disease. The ones that survived were often forced into labor, separated from the families, typically working on farms/plantations. Farm life for slaves was considered brutal, many worked long hours in harsh conditions, typically in severe weather, and continuous labor with little time for breaks or rests. The death of many slaves was often linked to slaves being overworked, along with the health risks that they suffered, usually caused by the cultivation of cash crops such as tobacco and cotton. Even though slaves faced many obstacles in America, they never lost a sense of the culture and tried to preserve as much of their traditions and values.