Essays on Black Slavery

Human trafficking is defined as the action of moving an individual or individuals from one geographical area to another without their consent. It need not be across boarders asbelieved by a large percentage of individuals but it can be within the same country (trans-nationally). People are in most instances trafficked due to various reasons but in most instances, they are trafficked in order to be forced into hard labor, be forced into commercial sex workers and at times they may be trafficked in order for their organs to be extracted or further be used as surrogates in their new ‘ ...

Despite the fact that both the United States and Brazil have a history of the institution of slavery, each country documented a different reaction to the emancipation of those in bondage. Racial relations among Brazilians were significantly different in comparison to the documented experiences of African Americans residing in the United States after the abolition of slavery. For instance, while African Americans became subject to discriminatory laws that included Jim Crow Laws and Black Codes, Brazil did not experience the same form of government-imposed racism. In other words, legislations did not institutionalize racism among the people of Brazil; however, ...

Annotated Bibliography: African American History

Mayer, R. (2000). "Africa As an Alien Future": The Middle Passage, Afrofuturism, and Postcolonial Waterworlds. Amerikastudien / American Studies, 45(4), 555-566. Palmer, C. A. (1995). From Africa to the Americas: Ethnicity in the Early Black Communities of the Americas. Journal of World History, 6(2), 223-236. According to Ruth Mayer’s Africa as an Alien Future (2000), there remains a connection between the African Diaspora community and the motherland. In the author’s words, African culture remains evident even in contemporary works such as “literature, installation art, [and] pop music” in which the passages between Africa and ...

Before the commencement of the American Civil War of between 1861 and 1865, the United States beheld the secession of the Southern States and the ensuing rise of the Confederacy to fight the Northern States that remained under the Union. Apparently, political, social, and economic disparities in the slavery system warranted the rise of Pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces that eventually took up arms against each other. In The Political Divisions that Contributed to Civil War, Michael Holt insists that sectional divisions and tension over black slavery did not “produces war” in the United States (401). According to the author, ...

Before the American Civil War of between 1861 and 1865, black slavery in the United States thrived on the pillars of white supremacy. Otherwise dubbed the antebellum period, the years ranging from 1820 to 1860 witnessed a gradual yet steady increase in the country’s reliance on slave labor. As per the ideologies of white supremacy, the dominance of white people warranted the inferiority of colored individuals and as a result, everyone belonging to the former group could hold those of the latter faction in bondage. Accordingly, the cultural norms of the country during the given era encompassed the ...

Part 1 - Race in Mexico and Peru Native Americans were comprised of indigenous tribes such as Maya, Inca and Aztecs. They inhabited largely Mexico and Peru. Before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors, the ancient civilizations lived in peace and harmony and were able to establish local empires that were rich in culture and traditions. With the arrival of Spaniards in 15-16th century, the civilizations were deemed to suffer either from diseases brought externally or by bloody conquests. With the engagement of Europeans, the African slave trade was introduced to the American continent. The population was mixed ...

Douglas uses vivid language to confess the painful history of the African slaves with utmost clarity and make the readers reflect on the horrifying consequences of black slavery. Douglas and the other children of black slaves lived a painful and sorrowful childhood. "It is a common custom, in the part of Maryland from which I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age." (Douglas, Chapter 1 p. 1) Like the other slaves, Douglas was not permitted to visit his mother during her sickness and was not even allowed to see her when she died and was ...

Johanna Smith’s letter to her father, from the colony of Virginia in 1660, represents a key primary source of historical value. Its exemplary evidence poignantly records the conditions, and plight of white indentured servants in the period. Johanna is afraid, doubting whether her father had even received her letters. This essay focuses the discussion on the working and labor-class conditions, particularly concerning the plight of whites under the auspices of indentured servitude. Johanna (1661) writes “The plantation grows good tobacco for England. I also tend to the small house garden, the kitchen, and the house. My labors are many” ( ...

Literature

Thesis Statement Thomas Jefferson’s Query XIV Laws is quite different from Phyllis Wheatley’s Poems, in that, while both of them targeted slavery and its abolishment, Jefferson’s views are expressed by a person from the outside, while Phyllis’ views are personal. While Jefferson makes comparisons to show that slavery in America was not as bad, Phyllis makes a direct appeal to abolish slavery. President of the United States, President Barak Obama, in one of his speeches said that he thought the need of the hour for all Americans, black or white, was to shun their differences and ...

Though not grown in large scale due to its slow and difficult seed removal process from the cotton bolls, cotton was still a profitable crop before the introduction of the cotton gin. However, this situation changed drastically after the invention of cotton gin by Eli Whitney cotton in 1793. The cotton gin enabled easy removal of seeds, and this resulted into the explosion of cotton production in the southern states. However, Whitney’s invention changed society for the worst; slavery grew significantly after the introduction of the cotton gin. The use of cotton gin did not reduce the need for ...

Slavery played a profoundly important role in the making of the United States, as the institution grew from the handful of Africans landed in Virginia in 1619 to the four million African Americans held in bondage at the beginning of civil war in 1861. The bound labor of at least twelve generations of black people crated great wealth for slaveholders, wealth which later translated into a greater political power. The slave trade empowered the American nation which later led to industrial revolution with slave labor producing products like cotton which is a well known cash crop. Slave owners regularly separated black ...