From First Contact to the Civil War
Assignment 1: From First Contact to the Civil War Due Week 5 and worth 180 points According to the textbook, from West Africa to Appomattox, the journey of the African living in America has been fraught with disappointment and misery. However, there has always been a glimmer of hope that America and its citizens would live up to the principles upon which the nation was founded. Use the Internet or Strayer databases to research events between 1619−1860 that relate to the legal limitations of both enslaved and free Africans on American soil. Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you: 1. Explain the principal manner in which the survival of African-Americans from colonial through Civil War times is inextricably rooted in West African traditions. Support your response with at least two (2) aspects of African culture that had survived and manifested themselves in the daily lives of both free and enslaved African-Americans. 2. Investigate at least two (2) events between 1619‒1860 that demonstrate the ability of enslaved and free African-Americans to overcome the legal limitations on their claims to dignity and self-respect. Provide your rationale for selecting the two (2) events in question. 3. Examine the manner in which your two (2) chosen events showcase the ability of the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence to live up to their promises. Include specific examples from both documents that reinforce your argument. 4. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources. Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements: Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Discuss African-Americans’ experiences for a better understanding of their relation to the national history. Explain the background of how slavery developed in the New World from less-severe forms of servitude into a permanent slave class based on race. Describe African-American history from slavery in colonial times to the present. Distinguish primary and secondary historical sources and evaluate them critically. Describe and evaluate the roles and contributions of African-American women and men in the history and culture of the U.S. and the world. Use technology and information resources to research issues in African-American history. Write clearly and concisely about African-American history using critical and analytical thought.
From First Contact to the Civil War
Name:
Institution:
From First Contact to the Civil War
In the year 1619, it was the first time when the Dutch presented the Africans that were captured to America. This action became the seed of slavery system which later evolved into other grave incidents that almost tore the nation apart. The first African slaves were brought to the colony of Jamestown in North America. They had been brought to help in the production of profitable crops like tobacco (Magid, 2011). After the first entry of Africans as slaves in America, the inhumane activity later spread to all American colonies, where they further aided in building the nation's economic foundations. In the mid-nineteenth century, a slavery abolition movement caused a great debate over slavery which later caused Civil War in the nineteen sixty-one to nineteen sixty-five. Find herein, through evaluation of two aspects of culture, an explanation of the principal manner through which the survival of African-American from colonial times through civil war, was rooted in West African traditions. Moreover, a personal rationale provides two events between the periods of slavery demonstrate the ability that enslaved and free African-Americans had in overcoming legal limitations on claims for self-respect and dignity.
The entire continent of Africa is popular all over the world for its sense of creativity. In most parts of Africa there is agricultural practice which implies that they are very hard-working and are used to hard labor. The people of West Africa being the leading victims of slavery in America did not struggle while they were taken to aid the productivity of crops. The Europeans must have already noted the hard-work in their practice and how diligent they were with their work. Thus, they were viewed as the rightful candidates of labor because they already had expertise of growing some kinds of crops that they were being taken to grow in the land of slavery (Magid, 2011). A big number of West Africans practice agricultural work where they grow crops, practice fishing as well as keeping livestock. Some people performed this work to get food for their families, while others worked in other fields to be paid and some sell their goods after production to get some money. Farmers in West Africa were well aware of the fruitful seasons and worked accordingly to ensure that their daily needs and that of families are met. Thus, it was the tradition of the West Africans to be hard-working and this became a good tool for the slaves because they were used to the lifestyle of agriculture. The hard-work tendency and being used to tough situations was an aspect of the West African culture that enabled them to survive during the periods of colonial era as well as that of civil war. They were economical people who wouldn't be pushed to farming because it was their lifestyle back at home in Africa. The fact that they were previously adapted to difficult situations and lifestyle enabled them to live in the slavery conditions, which at times involved physical abuse (Du& Hartman, 2007). Both enslaved and free African Americans were facing economic difficulties but due to their living standards of endurance, they prevailed. The aspect of hard-work and diligence clearly illustrate the tolerance of both free and enslaved African-Americans because even the free individuals had come in the seventeen century to America as sailors who worked on ships. Moreover, some Africans had also come as indentured servants in the early years of colonialism. They were then set free after finishing their terms of indenture and were entitled for headrights for ownership of land in their new colony.
Besides agricultural practice, there was great creativity amongst African communities. This fact provided more proof of the diligence possessed by the African people as they made items of material culture like mats, rugs, baskets, walking canes, and thatched roofs, which were designed on African examples. The many ideas of creativity made the Africans a great asset for their colonizers and thus they survived the entire period. This is evidenced by the addition of African culture into American c...