America’s Shame

Dates back to ancient times of Greece, Rome, Egypt, China, etc.

Fundamental part of human society throughout recorded history

Spanish and Portuguese began bringing slaves from Western Africa in 1503 to replace Native Americans working in gold mines in the Caribbean and Central America

A Dutch ship brought 20 enslaved Africans to the Virginia colony of Jamestown in 1619

At first the slaves were treated much like white indentured servants

Slaves were not particularly valuable at first. It was cheaper to bring in indentured workers than to pay for slaves

As indentured workers became unprofitable, enslaved workers from Africa began to grow

Indentured workers found work in England, so not as many

Indentured workers lived longer and claimed promised land (indentured term-6 years)

If slaves ran away, they were easily found because they could not blend in

Slaves could not make demands on master for human treatment, justice, or land

Brought to American mainly to work the tobacco, rice, cotton, sugar, and coffee plantations

More skilled in agricultural areas

Most whites looked upon Africans as intellectually and morally inferior

Laws passed making slaves property of their owners. The status was for lifetime and was hereditary

About 12 million Africans transported to Western Hemisphere in 400 years (1450-1850) most between 1680-1808

Slave population increased as cotton production increased

Originally only half a million slaves brought to North America – numbers increased quickly

Slaves reproduced at the same rate as whites

697,897 slaves in 1790, nearly 4 million by 1860

Slaves lived in strong family environments, especially on large plantations

Chose their own mates - held wedding ceremonies

Reproduced naturally After about 1808, owners realized good

medical care and tolerable living conditions helped slaves live longer

Strong families Religion – Most were Islam at first, but

changed over to Evangelical Christianity because owners would let them attend church. Emotional services – Africans sang, clapped, danced, and shouted

Told stories – parents passed on African history to children while working side by side in the fields

Taught themselves a new language only they understood – whites thought the language was crude and ignorant

Practiced new art forms Played music – owners banned drums –

played gourds, fiddles, banjos, and bells - began reproducing rhythms by clapping, body slapping and toe tapping – was accompanied by jigs, shuffles, and struts

“…Slavery was a brutal system based upon physical force, threats, tortures,… and intimidation” (Davis1).

If a slave resisted an order from a slave owner or any white person, they could expect retaliation – accepted punishments were:

Verbal reprimands, “Cuts” with a stick or a whip, boxed ears, confinement in a shed, branding with a hot iron (20 seconds), wearing iron chains or mask for weeks or months, and severe beatings

Mutilation of the body such as clipped ears, broken legs, fingers cut off, and slitting the tongue

The threat of being sold away from family members and never seeing family again

Set work pace so no one was beat or sold for not keeping up

Work sabotage: Set fire to barn, walk horse off a cliff, abuse animals, destroy tools, not doing good work, acting ignorant

Run away

Rebel against slave owner

Ran to escape beatings and to find sold off family members

80-90% were males

Very few children

Ran in the summer months

50,00 tried to runaway each year, very few succeeded

Chased by slave catchers and dogs

Abolitionists – individuals who held strong anti-slavery views – many were Quakers

Escaping slaves would head to free northern states, Canada, Mexico, or the British west Indies

The Underground Railroad –secret network made up of people and shelters strategically located to assist fugitive slaves in their escape to freedom

Used railroad terms as a cover (station, conductor, line)

Safe houses located in the Upper south and the North

Managed, operated, and funded mainly by African Americans, although some whites did help

Provided safe shelters, clothing, food, money, and directions to freedom

Harriet Ross Tubman – most famous underground agent-escaped slavery and returned to south 19 times-helped 300 slaves make an escape

Fugitive Slave Act of 1793-let slave catchers cross state lines in pursuit of runaway slaves, even free states

Three-Fifths Clause-slave owner could count every slave as 3/5 of a free person to determine state’s representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College

The right to continue importing slaves from Africa ( stopped in 1808)

President Abraham Lincoln-anti-slavery

The Civil War (1861-1865) mainly fought over the issue of slavery

On the eve of The Civil War, 4 million slaves lived in the southern region-most born into slavery

178,000 African American fought on the side of the North 80% were former slaves

The outbreak of war caused thousands of slaves to break for freedom

The North won The Civil War

The 13th Amendment passed ending slavery in 1865

12 generations of slaves suffered, but survived the institute of slavery

Although free, former slaves still struggled. They experienced segregation, racial violence, and lynching.

Former slaves still had a long fight ahead of them to be considered equal