The Slavery Of African Americans

The South, on the other hand, was highly dependent upon the institution of slavery. It was still primarily an agricultural society that needed as many laborers as possible in order for the plantation owners to make ends meet. According to historian Douglas Harper, “In 1793 came the cotton gin, which brought a 50-fold increase in the average daily output of short-staple cotton, promoted the rapid expansion of a ‘cotton kingdom’ across the Deep South, and made large-scale slavery profitable.” Because of this, the slave became an essential tool to the farmers of the south; more money became invested in slavery rather than in industrial improvements. Based upon the 1860 U.S. Census, there were almost a whopping total of four million slaves in the South alone. In fact, the more slaves an owner had, the more prestige. “Most slave owners owned fewer than five slaves, and only 12 percent of Southerners had twenty or more slaves. Many whites who had no slaves looked with envy upon the wealthy, and to a degree admired them.” This hierarchy had a clearly defined social structure which created distinctions between rich and poor whites as well as racial segregation. This agricultural society and its strict hierarchy only increased the social and racial disparities found in the southern region of the United States.

Slavery has existed for eons in human history, as we can trace slavery back to Babylonian times. The African Blacks were definitely not the first to be enslaved. However, it seems as if they were indeed treated the worst by their white masters than had any slaves before them been treated. The stories of the horrendous treatment endured by many slaves for the simple wish to be free are horrendous and heartbreaking. I believe there is no person better qualified to inform the world of the horrors of slavery, and to stand behind the idea of abolition, besides a former slave. This man was able to rise above every adversity thrown at him, he taught himself how to read, he observed everything going on around him, and learned from those experiences.

A valid point Howard Zinn wrote in A People's History of the United States was that African Americans were "ensnared" into American slavery for many reasons, those of which include desperate settlers, the helplessness of Africans outside their home country, the greed of colonists, the control against rebellion, and the consequences of black and white collaboration. I believe he makes a very valid point, for all his reasons have historical evidence to back them up.

Tocqueville anticipated the future these three races. For the Native Americans, Tocqueville anticipated that they were bound to vanish. With a specific end goal to survive, they should be acculturated or begun a fight were one of the two races could vanish. What 's more, Tocqueville anticipated that they will be secluded by the whites. For the Negros, he anticipated the racial blend will extend Negros race everywhere throughout the country. Additionally, they will be more acknowledgeable of their rights and battles will occur between those two races. Moreover, the bondage will be passed from one era to the next residual disgrace and disrespect to the Black race and hate to the white. At long last, Tocqueville proposed that intermix of

Modern and historical forces combine to keep the racial hierarchy in the dominant cultures control. Historically, slavery was diplomatically protected within our constitution safeguarding the control and ownership of African Americans. The three-fifths compromise written into the constitution in 1787, safeguarded slaveowners by greatly increase the representation and political power of slave-owning states (Laws, 2017). Slavery was widespread within the southern states until the year of 1865, when slavery and involuntary servitude were abolished, except for those duly convicted of a crime. Between 1866 and 1870, through congress a radical reconstruction era was executed ensuring guaranteed freedom and civil rights to former slaves. These turn of events, incensed southern slave owners giving rise to white Supremacy and the Ku Klux Klan. Such historical events and accounts help us understand present conditions for people of color through recognition of the enduring struggle of those who have fought slavery and racism.

Northern Republicans and Southern Democrats attempted to cure their complete opposition on the regulation of slavery by using federal power to coerce an end to the feud, yet the movement increased tension between the divided nation. By invoking both legislative and judicial power, politicians used laws which included slave codes and freedom laws as well as court decisions like Dred Scott v Sandford (1875) to convince or force the population into acceptance of stances on slavery. Each party viewed their tactics and ideas to be righteous, and though they intended for positive results, national outrage answered the governmental movement.

Back when there was Slavery it was unfair to some people, at least to the African Americans. By unfair I mean the whites, like most of us would torture the Africans. Some of the things the owners did was made the slaves work in fields without pay and they had no control over their own self, their owner did. But, if they were not doing, that the owners would do something bad like whip them with a whip with metal on the end.

Racism has been around as long as we have, you could argue that it is a part of human nature- but is it? It all started with slavery; it was custom to use African Americans for a wealthy, white man’s dirty work. Later, the government called for the relocation and removal of the Native Americans to small reservations, so the european settlers could steal their land, and hunt the native animal species’ that the indian’s relied so heavily on to near extinction. Many of the indians on the reservations died of starvation, disease, or violence, while the government sat and watched.

Unfortunately, inequality has not completely ceased to exist in the United States of America. As a country, we have had a long history of injustice among our people. From the enslavement of African Americans, to the mistreatment of Native Americans on the Trail of Tears, and the subtle and sometimes overt discrimination oppressing American women today, there has been a long and continuing history of discrimination and unfair action against our fellow citizens. It would be deceitful for us to think that our nation has lived up to the ideals of the words “all men are created equal” since the day the Constitution was written by the Founders. Slavery comes in many forms, and inequality has existed among many kinds of people, whether the issue

Enslavement of African Americans was a common and legal practice in the United States from the 18th to the 19th century. Slavery of African Americans began in the American colonies when the British colonies in America bought slaves from Africa. It was a practice that was used as well as legal in all 13 colonies. It lasted in many states up until the end of the American Civil War. Slavery lasted longer in some states then it did in others. In the north slavery was abolished earlier then it was in the south. Reason being is in the south, there was more plantations and farms that needed tending to. Many young slaves were exposed to harsh conditions, having to pick cotton on farms or work in the plantations for their owners who treated them poorly.

In todays’ society many African Americans’ including myself do not know where there furthest ancestor came from let alone existed; to be honest, the only people of African descent that really know where they come from are those who were born and raised in Africa due to their family not moving. All we know or assume is that our ancestor was brought from Africa; however, that is as much as we know, most African Americans including myself embrace Africa as the motherland but we tend to wonder how deep is our ancestral lineage is rooted within this illustrious continent of Africa. It is no surprise that the slave trade is the reason to blame for our broken connection back to Africa; one can say that the slave trade was economically beneficial to society at that point; however, everything about this unethical and morally repugnant trade, has plagued the African American community till this day. We as a people were set up to be disunited when our ancestor were put in shackles and put on a boat that sailed to the new world .And to this day the constant oppressive nature purposely continue to try to divide and conquer our race, so that we continue to erase any notion of Africa. If disunity is the key of the oppressor; then we must be that strong and resistant door that does not open or budge, which ultimately symbolizes unity we must displayed day in and day out.

During the early developments of America, multiple states instituted the practice of owning African-Americans and using them as slaves. Surprisingly, this form of slavery was not only present in the Southern states, but also in the Northern too. Plantation owners from all over found their use in owning slaves, and were even shown taking advantage of the practice. By having ownership of slaves, it often contributed in farming production on plantations and also became useful when it came to voting. Unfortunately, though, the practice was abused by many plantation owners. When looking back at the many accounts written at the time, there seems to be a pattern of how the slaves were treated. Furthermore, the accounts additionally revealed problems that not only existed in the south, but also in the north too. Therefore, by using an account of a traveler visiting America and a plantation owner who owned slaves, it’s able to understood on how the slaves were actually treated within society. These two sources not only reveal a problem amongst the owners, but also reveal a side of the North that many did not know.

In order to begin speaking of slavery in the United States, I must give you an introduction prior to the topic of slavery in history. Slavery has been concurrent since pre-historic times. It has been used in many empires like the Roman Empire, Ancient China, Mesopotamia and the Indus River-Valley. Many of these slaves, men & women, were products of indebt people who sold themselves for money or became prisoners of war who were forced into servitude. Earliest records of slavery date back to 1760 B.C. with the Code of Hammurabi which stated many laws regarding slaves being lost or stolen. Time elapsed as slavery evolved where many Europeans noticed African natives were really durable and had a lot of knowledge regarding raising crop. A

Black slavery did not began in America, but actually existed in Western Africa before it existed in the colonies. The African chiefs who traded their countrymen to the Europeans had no idea of the atrocities and the brutality their people would be forced to endure as slaves in America. African slaves would be brought to America from Africa by the Europeans, sold as property, forced into labor, and denied their human rights.

Slavery and the black race in America cannot be separated since slavery is a big part of the history of African Americans from the 18th century to early 20th century. There are many issues to consider about slavery and the lives of the slaves at the period. One of those issues is the role played by women slaves in the societies of the time. Deborah White writes about how women slaves had a different life compared to the other white women and compared to the male slaves. However, it is the statement that White made that suggested that when it came to black women, then it was impossible to separate their race and sex from them that is of much concern. In that, perceptions of a black woman were based on the fact that she was a woman and at