Centuries later, even after the Civil War (the war that was so called fought to "free slaves" but in actuality was fought over power and control by two separate factions of the ruling class) Africans were still resisting. Ironically, Black men were enthusiastic to fight in the Civil War. They believed that by enlisting in the fight against "slavery" or the plantation slave economy, they were proving their right for citizenship and equality. The documents of Timbuktu to Katrina: Readings in African History depict the Black's attempts to join the Union Army. In the document entitled Seeking the Right to Fight, 1861, Jacob Dodson, wrote a letter to the Secretary of War stating, "I desire to inform you that I know of some three hundred reliable colored free citizens of this City, who desire to enter the service for the defense of this city." In the same document, the African American citizens of Boston passed a resolution stating, "Resolved, that our feelings urge us to say to our countrymen that we are ready to stand by and defend the Government as the equals of it's White defenders-to do so with "our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor" (Pg. 97) .
Though their attempts were unsuccessful, they kept trying. Soon after, Abraham Lincoln realized Black soldiers were great assets and that he needed Black soldiers to fight in the war against the Confederacy. Black regiments emerged all across the northern states. Frederick Douglass' son, Lewis Douglass, joined the first officially Black unit in the army. In the document Lewis Douglass' Letter to His Sweetheart, he wrote to his fiancé Amelia describing the battle of Fort Wagner where the regiment lost over one third of six hundred of its men: "This regiment has established its reputation as a fighting regiment, nor a man flinched, though it was a trying time. Men fell all around me How I got out of that fight alive I cannot tell but I am here.
In order for one to truly understand the views of African Americans you must read and understand past and present literature written by African Americans. ... All works cited in this paper are from The Norton Anthology, African American Literature. ... resistance! RESISTANCE!"... African Americans have always taken a stance against slavery through writings. ...
When Europeans took thousands of Africans from their native land against their will, one can only expect resistance. ... Very few, African-Americans accepted their status as slaves. Full scale slave rebellions as those planned by Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, and Gabriel Prosser were not common among the African American community in the United States in the nineteenth century. Most, slave-owners were completely aware of this and they lived in fear of the African-Americans under their control. The fact that most slaves were able to have families and feel a sense of community lessoned resistance ...
White servants were more cherished then the Africans. ... There were also resistance movements from both slaves and white indentured servants. The outcome of the resistance movements did nothing to help the servants nor the slaves, they ended in execution. Africans faces harsh conditions. ... Slaves and servants were enormously valuable for the colonies of America, but the treatment of the slaves and servants were ruthless and unjust. ...
African capacity to resist Europeans ensured that sugar plantations were established in the Americas rather than in Africa. But if Africans, aided by tropical pathogens, were able to resist the potential invaders, some Africans were prepared to sell slaves to Europeans for use in the Americas. ... Without this dissonance, there would have been no African slavery in the Americas. ... African Agency and Resistance If demand for slave-grown produce, social identity, and the Atlantic environment were three key factors shaping the traffic, the agency of Africans comprised a fourth major influence,...
The history of the African-American has been a story of assimilation and resistance. ... However, resistance, as it was for the slaves, is sometimes futile. ... This fear of how resistance could be met compelled many African slaves to assimilate to their new life. ... Thus, many slaves left behind the beliefs and traditions that had been taught to them in Africa. Many of the African slaves in America had the "Fanta Mentality." ...
African American music has been called "( ) the musical Lingua Franca of the world [because] everyone listens to African American music and relates to it."... First, let us look at the history of the first era of African American music, "Slave music (1600s -1860s)." ... A civil war broke out in America and when it was over the slaves were free; the slave community had just become the black community. ... The next era of African American music was called, "Classical African American Music (1860s -1950s)." ... Lastly, African American music leads to the establishment of various schools, for A...
African American History It is often taught that the social and economic conditions of African Americans have been one of America's greatest struggles. ... Soon may colonies started importing African slaves. ... African Americans has come a far way. ... African Americans achievements continued when L. ... In 1983 Vanessa Williams became the first African American to win the Miss America Contest. ...
Examining the role that religion played in the African-American community, primarily pre-civil war, can be a difficult task due to the limited amount of evidence available.1 While it is a common notion that slavery life was embedded with Christian ideals, a Christian-like ideology is likely more accurate.2 Syncretism occurred with the combining of African tradition and Christian principles to create an African-American spirituality specific to its people. ... This conglomeration of ideals to form an authentic African-American spirituality with Christian and African overtones has been descri...
There have been different types of slavery from Indian slaves, to English indentured servants, and African slaves. ... African slaves were not necessary, because the Spanish Americans forced tens of thousands of Indians to work for them. ... Because slaves could be sold in America for twenty to thirty times the price in Africa, men, women, and children were forced to aboard small vessels and travel to the New World. ... Due to large numbers of African slaves that had to work on the plantations it was very important for the Englishmen to establish a police system to maintain slave resistance. ....