From Alex Speid
We reflect on our highs and lows as African Americans in this Country, burdened with the harsh realities we must face daily. Even as we march and protest towards some shrewd scrap of equality, there is still the hunger for more that drives us on.
But as I look at 2023 with somewhat opened arms, I’m hesitant to forget where we come from. That is why, for this year of Black History Month, it is best to express the tribulations of the black people as we go through our roots and dig for the scorched earth that our ancestors were buried under.
Even as DeSantis attempts to regulate our history to his narrative, I want there to still be some recorded piece of evidence for the far-off future of the selective mutism of history to ensure the Black youth of times not yet spoken that ‘yes; slavery did exist, and it didn’t stop with liberty.’
Entry 1: 1444-1865: From Slavery to Liberty
The year is 1444.
The true beginning of slave trades of Africans was prioritized by the early settlements of the Portugal’s founding start. History claims that Berbers and Arabs were some of the first of African Slaves to be used as currency in the Atlantic Slave Trade. This trade continued for many years, even gaining the approval of Pope Nicholas V in 1455, so long as the African Slaves were converted. Critics of the time surprisingly found the practice of expeditions to African enslavement to be cruel but found justification in their conversion to Christianity as a means to an end.
The year is 1619.
A slave Trade Portuguese ship traveled the Atlantic Ocean—hulled with over dozens of African Slaves—men, women, and children alike. The conditions were rough, and their energy was low. Half had died of horrendous treatment while on the ship, or starvation. But this paled in comparison to the attack by English colonizers aboard the (ironically) named ‘White Lion.’ They stole many African Slaves from the ship, before setting foot on Virginia land. It’s here where the first official recorded African Slaves were documented to arrive in English America.
The years are 1640-1670
These Slaves were traded for labor in exchange for goods, as well as being forced to work in scorching weather and egregious downpours. The fields of cotton, rice, and tobacco were paved with many Black man’s blood, sweat, and tears, as well as the number of infant and children’s bodies buried under the very soil their parents would pick cotton from a few months later. Food and water were scarce, while beatings for so much as addressing their betters the wrong way, resulted in disfiguration or death.
The women of African slavery were dealt just as harsh of treatment. They were sold as sex slaves to pleasure colonizers, act as maids to watch the children, and endure both discrimination and misogyny. Children, while different in acts of cruelty, were ripped from their mothers at a young age to work in the fields, tend to the animals, or even be raised by the master of the household. In 1662, a law was passed in Virginia that determined the Black child of an expecting mother would also be a slave.
The year is 1676
After the fall of the Powhatan Indians in 1646, the land they resided on near Jamestown was still squatted on by the tribe under the Confederate umbrella. The land was being fought over between Virginia Colonial Governor William Berkeley and landowner Nathaniel Bacon. When dealings did not seem to go his way, he opted to join the forced of the disenfranchised—African slaves and indentured white servants. Despite its dwindling failure and Bacon’s death, this historical event was considered the first time Africans and whites were joined in a singular cause of oppression at the hands of the 1%. However, this alliance only intensified African Slavery, as well as be the starting point of segregation between Blacks and whites in Virginia.
The year is 1688
During this time, Francis Daniel Pastorius, a German attorney, as well as three of his fellow Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania, came together to draft an anti-slavery resolution. This resolution was in heavy objection to slavery from both a religious and moral ground within the English Colonies. They referenced the Golden Rule from the Bible, which dictated “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” arguing that slavery was against the basic human rights of Africans and against God’s teachings. Despite the plea, however, no documented proof dictates that the petition every made it very far to ensure equality for all. This year marks the first ever protest against the mistreatment of Africans.
The year is 1712
The New York Slave Rebellion was an insurrection of Africans against their Christian masters. Unlike other parts of the country where slaves were isolated, New York allowed Africans to interact with each other, thus allowing plans and strategies to commence. It all came to a head on the night of April 6th, when a group of slaves set fire to Peter Van Tilburgh’s outhouse—acting as a signal for other Africans to revolt. Nine white people were killed in the process of a night. The rebellion resulted in six Africans committing suicide, and 40 brought to trial. This rebellion initiated stricter slave codes of harsher punishments, decreased contact amongst Africans, and no weapons of any kind allowed in their hands.
The year is 1770
The first casualty of the American Revolution was of Crispus Attucks, a Black man of both African and Native Indian descent. He had escaped slavery and lived a life as a seaman and a rope-maker. He joined in the crowd of angry American colonist in Boston. As a result of their protest, shots were fired into the crowd; one of which to die was Attucks. His death was a contributor to the spark for liberty in English America, and Attucks was buried with the honors of a martyr to the cause.
The year is 1775 to 1776
Two major events occurred in this year:
The first being French Abolitionist, Anthony Benezet, called forth 24 local leaders to the Rising Sun Tavern to form the first ever organization on behalf of enslaved Africans and Indians known as The Pennsylvania Abolition Society. Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin would later join the society to write a new constitution for the organization. It saw great success in creating branches across other cities and would later reach congress.
The second event was George Washington’s decree for free or slaved African Americans would have the right to enlist in the Continental Army in the war. A proclamation by Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, pledged Freedom for slaves in return for service. This, however, barely held merit, as the enslaved African Americans were simply used as cannon fodder for their masters or were still treated as less than their fellow white company men. By the end of the Revolution, many African Americans were given some modicum of freedom, but nothing substantial that could offer them sanctuary without traveling across the world from the Americas, to London, and even back to a new settlement in Sierra Leone, Africa.
By 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted; claiming the famous motto of all men being created equal. Notably, there is a section of the Declaration, written by Thomas Jefferson, that was removed from the final draft. It attacked slavery in calling it one of the many evils foisted upon the colonies by the British crown. It sparked a great debate amongst the delegates, until it was unanimously decided to be replaced with a more ambiguous passage by King George.
The Year is 1793
In this year, the Fugitive Slave Act was enacted. This act allowed local government to capture and return escaped slaves to their original owners, as well as initiate harsh punishment to those that aided in offering the runaway slave sanctuary of any kind. Bear in mind that this was approved by Congress and signed into law by acting President George Washington, who despite being considered a pioneer of slave freedom, had owned at least 100 slaves himself.
The year is 1800
A conspiracy had brewed of a rebellion in Richmond, Virginia, known as Gabriel’s Conspiracy, named after an enslaved blacksmith who was a significant leader in the plot. Over 1,000 slaves had planned to attack Richmond. However, the plans were thwarted by a severe thunderstorm, while two slaved African American men betrayed the cause. More than seventy slaves were arrested, while twenty-six of them hung for insurrection.
The year is 1816
In this year, The First all-Black religious denomination, known as African Methodist Episcopal Church, was organized with Richard Allen as its first bishop. Meanwhile, The American Colonization Society, founded by Presbyterian Minister of Basking Ride’s own, Robert Finley, initiated a return of African slaves back to Africa by purchasing them, and granting them safe passage back to their place of origins in a free settlement of Liberia.
The year is 1831
A man by the name of Nat Turner was viewed as a prophet of visions amongst his people. He had envisioned the deaths of his masters, as well as envision a brutal rebellion that came to pass after, as Nat described it, the sun turned a bluish green. a week after the peculiar anomaly, on August 21 at 2:00 in the morning, Nat and around 40 African American slaves set out on a killing spree; murdering at least 55 white people. It was not long before the white militia hunted them all down, and Nat was sentenced to Death on November 11th. A direct retaliation to Nat’s actions resulted in over 200 Black people (most of whom had nothing to do with Nat’s rebellion) being murdered by white mobs. Another result was the continuation of Slavery in Virginia, despite legislation considering its abolition.
The year is 1850
The Compromise of 1850 called for California becoming a free state, as well as other places such as Utah and New Mexico. This act was comprised by Whig senator Henry Clay, and Democrat senator, Stephan Douglas. It was through this act that provided contribution to the Civil War.
The year is 1852
The anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was published to critical acclaim with over 300,000 copies sold within three months of its publishing lifespan. It was written in response to the fugitive slave laws. Read by President Abraham Lincoln, he reportedly said “So this is the little lady who made this big war.” The book had a major role in shifting the general public’s view of Slavery and established Stowe as a literary hero.
The year is 1854
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in allowing a mandate by popular vote as to which territories would become free states or slave states. This act had the most integral role in forming what is now known as the Republican Party. Pro and Anti-slavery activist flooded territories to sway votes into each other’s favor. This brought the end to the old Whig coalition and brought rise to the creation of the Republican Party.
The year is 1857
The case of Dred Scott v. Sandford came to a head with outrage from abolitionist. It ruled Scott was still a slave, despite him filing a suit for his freedom in a Saint Louis, Missouri Court that ruled if an enslaved African American were to be moved to a slave-free state, they were then considered free and could not be re-enslaved in a slaved state
Sometime in 1619, a Portuguese slave ship, the São João Bautista, traveled across the Atlantic Ocean with a hull filled with human cargo: captive Africans from Angola, in southwestern Africa. The men, women and children, most likely from the kingdoms of Ndongo and Kongo, endured the horrific journey, bound for a life of enslavement in Mexico.
https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/timeline/slavery.htm
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/slavery-and-law-in-early-ma.htm
https://www.aaihs.org/a-history-of-slavery-in-the-united-states/
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/teacher-resources/historical-context-facts-about-slave-trade-and-slavery
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery
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