African American Movement Research Paper

Bianca Hammaker Professor Page AMH 2010 25 November 2016 Paper Two (Abolition) Abolitionists preached to the public people on how slavery was unjustified, cruel, immoral, and inhumane. A widely accepted thought was to degrade colored people to that of the thinking capacity of apes and to treat them as animals. Most of the states were slave-holding at this time in history with slaves being the ones under the direction of the owners. Buyers (whites) of slaves sought for cheap labor and gave no credibility to anything the slaves accomplished.

With slaves came the opportunity to work. With more hands that were not paid plantation owners only had more to gain as this went on through several states. Several slaves were sent in abundance to the West Indies to speed up the process of collecting sugar cane. This was extremely hard work for the slaves and only pushed the separation bar further apart. Along with Native Americans and slave women had no say over what went on in their lives a majority of the time.

They wanted immediate emancipation of all slaves and believed in a higher law (Stewart, J. B., 1991 & History Net, 2010). They were in the North mostly being led by Lloyd Garrison (Stewart, J. B., 1991, Civil War Trust, n.d.c). Abolitionists helped with the underground railroad. Many abolitionist speakers such as Frederick Douglass became well known and anti-slavery literature was sold widely (Stewart, J. B., 1991). Some abolitionists induced violence, like John Brown (Kelly, M., 2017).

The first slaves that were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619, were African. After this occurrence, slavery spread throughout the American colonies. This marked the beginning of slavery. They were brought to Virginia to help with the production crops such as cotton and tobacco. African-American slaves helped build the economic foundations of the new nation.

Slavery existed a long time before it came to the colonies. Americans used slaves for plantation and their agricultural enterprise. By bringing slaves this allowed a big amount of workers to be controlled by one owner. It wasn’t until later slavery became a black thing. The first Africans Slaves came to America as indentured Servants they would work for their freedom.

African Americans face a struggle with racism which has been present in our country before the Civil War began in 1861. America still faces racism today however, around the 1920’s the daily life of an African American slowly began to improve. Thus, this time period was known by many, as the “Negro Fad” (O’Neill). The quality of life and freedom of African Americans that lived in the United States was constantly evolving and never completely considered ‘equal’. From being enslaved, to fighting for their freedom, African Americans were greatly changing the status quo and beginning to make their mark in the United States.

African Americans had an extremely pivotal role in the outcome and consequences of the Civil War. This group of people were enslaved, and forced to work in horrible conditions, for the whole day, without pay. Slaves were one of the main causes of the Civil War. The issue of Slavery, which resulted in the eventual economic and social division between the North and South, caused the creation of the Confederate States. African Americans did not only unintentionally cause the war, but they also effected the outcome of the war, and the eventual consequences the nation would face after the war.

The Underground Railroad was a system of abolitionists that assisted runaway slaves on their path to freedom. The Underground railroad was started by abolitionist and former slave, Harriet Tubman. Once Tubman obtained her freedom, she decided to go back into slave states and help other slaves achieve freedom. On the railroad were conductors, or people that aided slaves on the railroad by providing them shelter and safety. Abolitionists, such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass, wrote about the Underground Railroad and spread awareness of the hardships slaves face.

They arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 aboard a Dutch slave ship. Only twenty in number, including at least three women, these people had survived the desperate Middle Passage from their homeland to America, a voyage so harsh that it is estimated that one in eight Africans died in transit without ever reaching the slave markets of the New World. Initially, the black people brought to the Virginia colony were not considered slaves. They were classed as indentured servants who could become free if they worked satisfactorily for their masters for a stipulated number of years. But by 1700, the growing plantation economy of Virginia demanded a work force that was cheaper than free labor and more easily controlled.

Even the people helping with the Underground Railroad were risking their lives by accommodating these slaves while they were on the run. The enslaved African Americans would do anything for freedom, even if they had to put their lives in jeopardy or even their families. Most slaves wanted to escape the South where they were bound to die because of how bad the slave owner’s were down there. Some slaves were scared of leaving slavery because that was all they knew. Slaves if they escaped would have troubles finding jobs and a safe place for their family.

Many Americans were concerned by the change that needed to happen for the people. The people were starting to stand up for what they believed in. With population increasing, things started to get out of control. Many political people held to much power over the people. People living in poverty were suffering more than they have been. Companies started creating monopolies all over and controlling jobs, and money. African-Americans took one of the biggest tolls during the progressive era. They had to fight for what they believe in, and literally fight. These people, as they use to say, were discriminated from the school house, all the way to the water fountains. African-Americans were looked at like a disease at this time. They had unfair housing,

Their had to be a way to help the slaves escape their suffering! The Quaker abolitionists and other religious groups formed a network of routes to help slaves escape from the southern states. It was harriet tubman who had a primary role in organizing a network which became known as the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a rebellion.

Firstly, the owners of land ownership in the southern colonies rapidly pooled their land, forming a large-scale farms, which, respectively, required much more labor. Second, the price of tobacco, the main crop of the South, in the 1660s fell and remained at a low level, forcing all the planters to sell cheaper. Third, as population growth in England and at the same time reduced to improve living conditions, the number of people who wanted to go to America as indentured workers, reduced - thus the number Servent also declined. Fourth, the laws of Virginia and other colonies were aimed at the worsening situation of black workers and ultimately led to legitimize the system of slave labor. Although theoretically black workers were free men, in fact, they had to put up with infringement of their civil, legal and property rights.

Race Was Invented To Justify Slavery Once people are defined as inhuman because of the color of their skin, you are free to treat them like animals. This is exactly what happened to blacks in America. The first blacks who arrived in Virginia where from Europe, not Africa. They came to Virginia in 1619 and were not initially considered slaves.

The lecture on African Americans in the 1920s by Professor David Canton is very disturbing. His lecture was on the different unjust treatment that African Americans endured. The professor, to me, was trying to make the listener feel the anguish that African Americans did in the 1920s. In some sense he appeared passionate and at times angry about the treatment of African Americans. The government supported this hostile treatment because they believed African Americans were being subversive if they stood up and defended themselves. In listening to the lecture it is evident that there was unfair treatment with fatal outcome at times of African Americans. Throughout history I have seen the changes made by society and government. African Americans have been heard and continue to be heard as issues occur.