Saidiya Hartman's Lose Your Mother

He demonstrates that Native American populations experienced a catastrophic decline from slavery, as high as 90%, while the height of West Africa’s was 20%. Yet the term slavery refers to Africans in the Americas, as historical memory excludes Native enslavement.

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

the discovery of gold and silver in America the extirpation, enslavement and entombment in the mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and looting of the East Indies, the turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins, signalizes the rosy dawn of capitalist production. (Keen 57)

European powers shamelessly exploited the people and resources of Africa in the 19th century. They often tried to justify their actions by using ideology, religion and moralism. After the end of the African slave trade, the development of steam power, and medical discovery, European nations started exploring not only the coast but also the unmapped interior of the continent. In this essay, I will explain the main driving forces behind African Imperialism. The Western europeans countries all competed for land and resources because of their self interest. They sought natural resources, and technology gave them the ability to exploit them. The philosophy of national pride however, was the primary reason. (Main document) (Doc C, D & B)

The aggregation of mankind’s history is littered with tales of conquest over various living and nonliving elements; the fellow man being one of them. Imperialization is an example of such an endeavor. It is an act in which a territory, country, or entire nation can be consumed by a larger, stronger oppressor. Historically, a lasting impression has been made on the fruitful land of Africa through European and American conquest. The destruction of a bountiful country has been recorded and expressed in various ways. In Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible, the negative aspects of imperialization in the African Congo is shown through the interactions between the Price family and African inhabitants; both Africans and Belgian conquerors.

Around the year 1897 Edward Morel noticed something that would change the way the modern world viewed the colonization of Africa and the supposed “humanitarian” work there forever (Hochschild 1). Morel worked for an English shipping company that was responsible for cargo going between the Congo Free State and Belgium. What Morel noticed was that ships from Africa were filled with rich, exotic goods like rubber and ivory, but the ships headed to Africa from Belgium were filled with military members and various firearms and ammunition (Hochschild 2). Morel made the conclusion that the cause of this odd “trade” between Europe and Africa was slave labor. European colonization of Africa was a slow, arduous process resulting in the deaths of

North America’s ostensible peace with the outside world could not avoid civil wars, as African people’s self-protection could not avoid European gory violent human plunder. In Africa, people were still live in a village community system with introverted self-governments. When colonists came, big kingdoms fragmented because the

Europeans feared and discriminate Africans but that didn’t stop them from selling them and making them work in plantation for a certain period of time. In addition, white blames the African for things they did not do – ““the living image of primitive aggressions which they said was the Negro but was really their own” (50). This statement proved that white colonizers get away with things by blaming the blacks, insisting that blacks are going to gore the life of them and denying the fact, blacks to be their own.

In author Jared Diamond’s book, “Guns, Germs and Steel”, he, unfortunately saw the question of Yali, as a difficult one to answer, according to Diamond Yali asked, “Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?” Similar to the question facing this essay, the answer is the same; this paper suggests, ‘to the victor belong the spoils,’ conquered people loose not only freedom, the conqueror gives the people religion and then robs them of their natural resources. Historian John Henrik Clarke declared,

The indigenous people of Africa suffered many setbacks, when the Europeans arrived. When the Europeans arrived in Africa they made the indigenous people feel inferior, lack self-confidence, and be stripped of their responsibility. As shown by Document 2, when it says, “...convince us that our civilization was nothing less than savagery, thus giving us complexes which led to our being branded as irresponsible and lacking in self-confidence.” Some people may agree, that this seems like something out of a genocide. Originally the indigenous people of Africa were supposed to be cheap labor. However, this soon changed when the Europeans enslaved the African people. This is portrayed in Document 6, when it says, “...Beneath the noonday sun, My brother was strong…” By doing this they stole all of the human rights from the Africans, who had done nothing wrong. This is shown in Document 3, when it says, “Whereas fundamental human rights...are denied to Africans.” During this extremely horrific time in African history men were worked to death, and women were raped. This is found in Document 6, when it says,”The White Man killed my father,My father was proud, The White Man seduced my mother, My mother was beautiful.” This shows the negative effects are much worse for the Africans, than for the Europeans. But, there are some positives in this dark hour. When the Europeans arrived in Africa, they provided the

African people could no longer live how they wanted, they had to follow the rules and laws of the Europeans. The natives couldn’t work were the wanted, say what they wanted, or practice their own religion. They were told what to do, how to do it, and how much money they would make at work. The resolution of the All-African People’s Conference condemns imperialism and colonialism because of this statement, “…fundamental human rights, freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of movement, freedom of worship, freedom to live a full and abundant life . . . are denied to Africans through the activities of Imperialists”.

Long before Europeans arrived in Africa, slavery existed. In Africa, the slaves were treated as servants, humans, though lower class. European explorers would travel throughout the world looking for resources to trade, and Africa was such a place. Europe traded weapons in exchange for African slaves—kidnapped people that would eventually serve as laborers for European plantation owners and miners. Slavery’s negative physical and mental effects have impacted everyone around the world greatly, but the way slavery has changed society is the one with the greatest effect.

By the early twentieth century most of Africa was colonized by Europeans with the exception of Liberia and Ethiopia. This colonization was partially a response to the European countries trying to show dominance through the acquisition of territories. Once these new colonies were seized from the local population, their precious resources were systematically exported back to the country who was the aggressor to help fuel their industrial revolution. The three novels studied in class provided a stark insight to how the native West African people were treated during this period of imperialist colonization.

Slavery means many different things to many different people; to some it may recall a past of unspeakable hardships and tribulations, while to others it may evoke mawkish memories of capitalist ventures and economic prosperity. One thing can be known for certain about slavery: its undeniable impact on the world’s economic growth through its capitalist exploitation of human lives. Grandin’s The Empire of Necessity explores the wide-reaching roots of the slave trade and examines the consequences and coincidences that entangled the lives of countless enslaved Africans, slavers, and the men who considered themselves to be neither. Using the tale of a failed slave revolt in the South Pacific, Grandin makes the argument that slavery had never been “just about slavery”; it was a multi-faceted system of oppression that was used as a foundation with which the modern world was built upon.

In previous colonial actions, African populations were divided into different ethnic and linguistic groups, also following beliefs they had come accustomed to (World History, 2009, para. 2). Europeans colonizing this area saw themselves as acting in the best interests of African countries, bringing benefits that would help with challenging situations that arise. This attitude, however, destroyed traditional beliefs and social values. Cultural identities were destroyed and citizens lost control of their traditions and independence. Relationships between African citizens had now created internal and external problems. The views they had on Europeans had become negative. As stated by Patrice Lumumba, “We have known that our lands are despoiled in the name of supposedly legal texts, which in reality recognized only the right of the stronger” (Lumumba, 1961, para. 3) . With all things considered, colonization replaces traditional authority figures. Europeans have previously shown the mindset that does not consider African tribes and the boundaries set that ensures all success among people. When wanting to colonize South American countries, colonizers must abandon the pathology created through past actions. Future processes must consist of living in a culturally diverse society, accepting and understanding the traditional knowledge. The mutual relationships created allow for physiological benefits that promise equality and future problems. Although European structures created a loss of traditional culture, others argue that colonialism helped develop positive