FREE ESSAY ON AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH

As a social and economic institution, slavery originated in the times when humans began
farming instead of hunting and gathering. Slave labor became commonplace in ancient
Greece and Rome. Slaves were created through the capture of enemies, the birth of
children to slave parents, and means of punishment. Enslaved Africans represented many
different peoples, each with distinct cultures, religions, and languages. Most originated
from the coast or the interior of West Africa, between present-day Senegal and Angola.
Other enslaved peoples originally came from Madagascar and Tanzania in East Africa. 
Slavery became of major economic importance after the sixteenth century with the European
conquest of South and Central America. These slaves had a great impact on the sugar and
tobacco industries. A triangular trade route was established with Europe for alcohol and
firearms in exchange for slaves. The slaves were then traded with Americans for molasses
and (later) cotton. In 1619 the first black slave arrived in Virginia. The demands of
European consumers for New World crops and goods helped fuel the slave trade.
A strong family and community life helped sustain African Americans in slavery. People
often chose their own partners, lived under the same roof, raised children together, and
protected each other. Brutal treatment at the hands of slaveholders, however, threatened
black family life. Enslaved women experienced sexual exploitation at the hands of
slaveholders and overseers. Bondspeople lived with the constant fear of being sold away
from their loved ones, with no chance of reunion. Historians estimate that most
bondspeople were sold at least once in their lives. No event was more traumatic in the
lives of enslaved individuals than that of forcible separation from their families.
People sometimes fled when they heard of an impending sale. During the 17th and 18th
century enslaved African Americans in the Upper South mostly raised tobacco. In coastal
South Carolina and Georgia, they harvested indigo for dye and grew rice, using
agricultural expertise brought with them from Africa. By the 1800s rice, sugar, and
cotton became the South's leading cash crops. The patenting of the cotton gin by Eli
Whitney in 1793 made it possible for workers to gin separate the seeds from the fiber
some 600 to 700 pounds daily, or ten times more cotton than permitted by hand. The
Industrial Revolution, centered in Great Britain, quadrupled the demand for cotton, which
soon became America's leading export. Planters' acute need for more cotton workers helped
expand southern slavery. By the Civil War, the South exported more than a million tons of
cotton annually to Great Britain and the North. An area still called the "Black Belt",
which stretched across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, grew some 80 percent
of the nation's crop. In parts of the "Black Belt", enslaved African Americans made up
more than three-fourths of the total population. Even though slavery existed throughout
the original thirteen colonies, nearly all the northern states, inspired by American
independence, abolished slavery by 1804. As a matter of conscience some southern
slaveholders also freed their slaves or permitted them to purchase their freedom. Until
the early 1800s, many southern states allowed these emancipations to legally take place.
Although the Federal Government outlawed the overseas slave trade in 1808, the southern
enslaved African American population continued to grow. By 1860 some 4 million enslaved
African Americans lived throughout the South. Only Southern states believed slavery to be
a major, and essential, economic factor. Whether on a small farm or a large plantation,
most enslaved people were agricultural laborers. They worked literally from sunrise to
sunset in the fields or at other jobs. Some bondspeople held specialized jobs as
artisans, skilled laborers, or factory workers. A smaller number worked as cooks,
butlers, or maids. 
Slavery became an issue in the economic struggles between Southern plantation owners and
Northern industrialists in the first half of the 19th century, a struggle that culminated
in the American Civil War. Despite the common perception to the contrary, the war was not
fought primarily on the slavery issue. Abraham Lincoln, however, saw the political
advantages of promising freedom for Southern slaves, and the Emancipation Proclamation
was enacted in 1863. This was reinforced after the war by the 13th, 14th, and 15th
amendments to the US constitution (1865, 1868, and 1870), which abolished slavery
altogether and guaranteed citizenship and civil rights to former slaves. 
Following the Civil War, Southern states passed laws called Black Codes. A Black Code was
a law which limited or restricted a certain activity or way of life for the African
Americans. Mississippi banned interracial marriages with the threat of certain death if
the law was broken. Other codes restricted where the Blacks could own land. All were
attempts to keep the government from giving the forty acres of land to former slaves. 
Since a majority of the Southern population was made of Blacks, whites feared they would
eventually take over. This led to the brutal killings of many Blacks by the KKK and other
white supremacist groups. Blacks who tried to exercise power were either killed or had
some other form of physical action taken against them. Although in 1880 voting booths
were open to all, only some Whites let Blacks vote, usually when this happened, they were
watched under the careful eye of a KKK leader. Sadly enough a Black trying to pursue his
right to vote was often met with death or loss of income. According to the Ku Klux Klan,
they stand for five simple views. The first being The White Race being the Aryan race and
its Christian faith. The second, America First states that America comes first before any
foreign or alien influence or interest. The Constitution as they believe should be
followed exactly as written and intended, and is considered by their group the finest
system of government ever conceived by man. The fourth, Free Enterprise was the end to
high-finance exploitation. And finally, Positive Christianity was the right of Americans
to practice their Christian faith, including but not limited to prayer in school. 
Preconceived notions are quite arguably the most widely acknowledged form of racism
today. Use of derogatory terms, such as the quite offensive n-word and slang such as
spook, porch monkey, etc. are all terms people of all race's use to refer to Blacks. Even
situations can become unnecessarily frightening because of preconceived notions we have
been led to believe about Blacks. For example, if a white woman has gotten lost while
driving and stumbles into a predominantly black neighborhood, she would be more likely to
panic and become frightened then if she were lost in a neighborhood considered to be
predominantly white. Fears and ideals such as these have been instilled in our society
for years, which leads to the occurrence of racial hate. 
It is obvious that racism still exists in many forms throughout our nation and throughout
the world. Example of this racism is present in almost every aspect of society to this
day. Although slavery was outlawed in our country following the Civil War,
African-Americans have never been able to enjoy the freedom that Caucasians have, and
probably never will. Years and years of oppression have led to an attitude of inferiority
by the African Americans that will, quite possibly, never fade. What a humility to
society in general that this institution existed.