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African Americans A Concise History, Combined Volume, 5E Darlene Clark Hine Solution Manual

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Type:

Solution Manual

Resource:

African Americans A Concise History, Combined Volume

Edition:

5th Edition

Author(s):

Darlene Clarke Hine William C. Hine Stanley C. Harrold


CHAPTER 1: AFRICA

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Africa was the birthplace of humanity and African-American history and culture over one million years ago. The geography of Africa divides the continent into North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. The Sahara desert, both barrier and pathway, helped to shape a broader African experience from the foundations of civilization in ancient Egypt to the tribal and Muslim kingdoms of West Africa before the arrival of Europeans. Africans adopted a wide range of religious practices while herding livestock and growing grain crops. African civilizations competed against one another for regional supremacy, lands, and resources, including access to a slave trade controlled by Muslim states. LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1-1 What are the geographical characteristics of Africa? 1-2 Where and how did humans originate? 1-3 Why are ancient African civilizations important? 1-4 Why is West Africa significant for African-American history? 1-5 What did Kongo and Angola have in common with West Africa? 1-6 How did the legacies of West African society and culture influence the way African Americans lived? CHAPTER OUTLINE I. a. b. c. d. e. f.

II.

A Huge and Diverse Land Climatic zones shaped African history. (See Lecture Starter 1 and MyLab Activity 1.) The Sahara Desert limited contact between sub-Saharan Africa and the outside world. A huge savanna stretches from Ethiopia to the Atlantic Ocean. The rain forest extends east from the Atlantic coast over most of central Africa. Another region of savanna borders the rain forest to the south, followed by the Kalahari Desert. A coastal strip lies at the continent’s southern extremity. (See Short Assignment 1.)

The Birthplace of Humanity a. Humans, gorillas and chimpanzees descended from a common ancestor in Africa five to ten million years ago. b. The origins of humanity lie in the savanna regions of Africa. c. The earliest known hominids were the Ardipithecines, who emerged about 4.5 million years ago. d. 3.4 million years ago, descendents of Ardipithecines, known as Australopithecus, used primitive stone tools. e. 2.4 million years ago, Homo habilis had developed a larger brain than Ardipitecus or Australopithecus . 1


f. Homo habilis lived in small bands. g. Homo habilis may have spread to southeastern Europe. h. Homo erectus emerged in Africa about 1.6 million years ago and spread from Africa to eastern Asia and Indonesia. i. Homo sapiens, modern humans, evolved from Homo erectus. j. Paleoanthropologists agree that modern humans, Homo sapiens, evolved from Homo erectus, but they disagree on how: according to the multiregional model, modern humans evolved throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe from ancestral regional populations of Homo erectus and archaic Homo sapiens; according to the out-of-Africa model, modern humans emerged in Africa some 200,000 years ago and began migrating to the rest of the world about 100,000 years ago, eventually replacing all other existing hominid populations. (See Lecture Starter 2.) III.

IV.

Ancient Civilizations and Old Arguments a. Egypt emerged in the Nile River valley in the fourth millennium bce. b. Village life in Egypt became hierarchical and specialized. c. The race of the ancient Egyptians is controversial. (See Classroom Activity 2.) d. Egyptians did not use modern racial terminology. e. The Nile provided resources and protection from outsiders. f. Egypt became a unified kingdom around 3150 bce. g. Egypt became an empire around 1550–1100 bce. (See Classroom Activity 1.) h. After 1100 bce, Egyptian culture declined because of outside attack. i. The Roman Empire conquered Egypt in 30 bce. j. Egyptian culture influenced Nubia. k. Nubians established Kush as an independent kingdom. l. Kush fell to the neighboring Noba people. m. Noba fell to Axum, the first Christian state in sub-Saharan Africa. West Africa Most African Americans descend from West Africa. West African agriculture began around 1000 bce. Ghana, in western Sudan, was founded by the Soninke. (See MyLab Activity 2.) Ghana declined during the twelfth century. Mali was similar to Ghana. Mali reached its peak during the reign of Mansa Musa (r. 1312–1337). Songhai took over Mali. Peoples of the forest region, like the Nok, were both slave traders and victims. Senegambians shared a history and language but were not politically united. The Akan states emerged during the sixteenth century. The people of the Yoruba culture lived to the east of the Akan states (in modern Benin and western Nigeria); they gained ascendancy in the area as early as 1000 ce. l. During the seventeenth century, the Oyo conquered the Yoruba and entered the Atlantic slave trade. m. The Fon people formed the kingdom of Dahomey. n. Benin controlled southern Nigeria and joined in the Atlantic slave trade. . a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k.

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o. Igboland lay along the Niger River. (See Long Assignment 2.) V. a. b. c. d. e. f.

VI. a. b. c.

d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

Kongo and Angola A large minority of African Americans descend from Central Africa. Central Africans lived in villages and divided labor by gender. The Kongo kingdom controlled the Congo River system. Kongo wealth derived from trade with the interior. Kongo kings tried to convert people to Christianity with little success. Competition with the Portuguese over trade produced a breakup of the Kongo kingdom. West African Society and Culture By the early sixteenth century, most West Africans were farmers. (See MyLab Activity 3.) West Africans lived in villages of extended families or clans called lineages. Extended families and lineages were either patrilineal or matrilineal: in patrilineal societies, social rank and property passed in the male line (from fathers to sons); in matrilineal societies, rank and property passed in the female line. Nuclear families acted as economic units. West Africans generally worked land communally and divided tasks by gender. Most West Africans lived in hierarchically organized states led by monarchs. Slavery has existed since ancient times. West African war captives were enslaved. Two religious forms dominated West Africa: Islamic and indigenous. (See Long Assignment 1 and Discussion Question 1.) West African culture has influenced African-American culture. (See Short Assignment 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1. Bring in a video clip or a copy of a journal article dealing with a modern sociopolitical issue in Africa. Hold a brief discussion with student about the particular issue, such as the existence of slavery, the development of precious minerals, or regional political competition. Then use this opening to deliver a lecture on a related topic in African history. (See Chapter Outline I.a.) 2.

Use the Internet in class and pull up an important website related to the origin of human beings in Africa. In your lecture, draw upon various visual imagery in the website to supplement notetaking by students. (See Chapter Outline II.j.)

Classroom Activities 1. Divide the class into small groups and assign each group a particular aspect of Egyptian cultural history to discuss, compare notes, and present to the class as a whole during the following class session. (See Chapter Outline III.g.)

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2.

Hold a debate. Divide the class into two sections, and assign each half to create competing arguments regarding Afrocentrism and the impact of Egyptian culture on Greek and Roman culture. Each group should assign several students, if not the entire group, to participate in the actual debate. (See Chapter Outline III.c.)

Discussion Question 1. Regarding the issue of the influence of Islam on Africa, ask students the following questions: Why did Islam spread throughout Africa? How did Islam influence African cultural, political, and economic history? How have modern events shaped our understanding of the role of Islam in African history? Points to consider: The discussion should touch upon the spread of Islam through trade and warfare, the heavy influence of Islamic art and technology on African societies, and the role of the global war on terrorism in shaping American perceptions of Muslim people and their history. (See Chapter Outline VI.j.) MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Interactive Map: Africa Climate Regions and Early Sites http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/hss_hine_aaodyssey_4/intermaps/ch01/map 1-1.html Bring blank maps of the African continent into class. After demonstrating the interactive map and holding a general discussion with students about the geography of Africa, ask the students to fill in specific pieces of information on the blank maps. Hold a full-class discussion about specific geographical features before the students turn in the assignment. (See Chapter Outline I.a.)

2.

Document: Ghana and Its People in the Mid-Eleventh Century http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Document&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_ME DIA_1/history/MHL/US/documents/Ghana_People_in_Mid11th_Cent.html&width=640&height=480&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes After allowing the students to read the primary document selection at their desks, reconvene the class for a short discussion about the author of the document, the time period, and the region. Then ask the students to underline in the document the key points of the description. Also ask the students how the cultural biases of the writer shape the information he conveys about Ghana. The students can turn in their written answers for a letter grade, or the material can be incorporated into an exam or quiz. (Chapter Outline IV.c.)

3.

Video: West African States .4


http://www.mathxl.com/info/MediaPopup.aspx?origin=1&disciplineGroup=5&ty pe=Video&loc=HTTP@media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA _1/history/MHL/WORLD/videos/westafricanstateslarge.html&width=850&height=680&autoh=yes&centerwin=yes After showing the five-minute video in class, divide students into small groups to establish the conditions for a class debate. Ask the students in their small groups to discuss the main questions and arguments advanced in the video. The subject of the debate will be the varying interpretations of the rise of African states, and the evidence used to substantiate those theories. Be sure to remind the students to use specific African empires and states as examples. (See Chapter Outline VI.a.) SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1. Provide each student with a blank map of Africa. Ask them to name the most important geographical features and identify the main regions of the continent. To make it more challenging, also require them to memorize and convey the locations of modern Africa nations. (See Chapter Outline I.f.) 2.

Divide the class into several groups, and assign each group a section of the textbook chapter to outline and present the main points orally in class the following week. Each group should designate a notetaker, a presenter, and several analysts for the project. The group will turn in a written summary of the chapter section when the oral presentation is done. (See Chapter VI.l.)

Long Assignments 1. Ask students to watch several films on African history (see annotated list, below) and write a six-page paper comparing how the films convey historical information to the audience. (See Chapter VI.k.) 2.

Assign a ten-page research paper on the historical development of an African nation to the present day, drawing upon primary and secondary resources found on the Internet, film, and in print at local libraries. (See Chapter IV.o.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Shaka Zulu (1986, South African Broadcasting Corporation, 8 hours). This popular television miniseries focuses on the story of Shaka, king of the Zulu nation during the early 1800s. The series follows Shaka’s rise and fall during the colonial transition in southern Africa. 10 episodes, 50 minutes each.

2.

Wonders of the African World, with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (1991, PBS, 6 hours). . 5


Hosted by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., this multi-part documentary overturns myths on African history. It focuses on Africa as the birthplace of humanity and covers the high points of the sophisticated civilizations that existed throughout African history. A companion website is located at http://www.pbs.org/wonders/. 3.

Roots (1997, Warner Bros. miniseries, 12 hours). Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky in the late 1970s, this series is perhaps the best recreation of slavery in a docudrama on film. The first two episodes focus on the journey of Kunta Kinte from Africa to seasoning as a slave in British Virginia in the late 1700s.

4.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 4 hours). Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people from the Atlantic trade through emancipation.

5.

Black Athena (Bandung File, 1991, 52 minutes). This documentary examines Cornell Professor Martin Bernal's controversial 1987 thesis regarding African origins of Greek civilization. It tracks the impact of Bernal’s work on the public, universities, and the intellectual movement of Afrocentrism.

6.

The Silver Pharaoh (PBS, Series of the Dead, 2011, 1 hour). This documentary follows modern forensic scientists as they dissect an Egypian pharaoh over seventy years after its initial discovery by French archaeologist Pierre Montet in 1939. It is both analytical and entertaining.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

D. T. Niane, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali (London: Longman, 2006). This written account—part history and part legend—is based on an oral story passed down for generations by African poets in Mali dating back to the thirteenth century.

2.

Ivan Van Sertima, They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America (New York: Random House, 1976). Sertima makes the claim, with supporting archaeological and maritime-based evidence, that ancient Africans traveled to the Americas before European arrival in 1492.

3.

John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 14001689 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998, 2nd ed). The influence of West African culture on slave societies of the Atlantic world sheds light on the essential elements of West African people at the time of European contact. .6


4.

Christopher Stringer and Robin McKie, African Exodus: The Origins of Modern Humanity (New York: Henry Holt, 1997). Stringer and McKie examine the “out of Africa” theory of human origin and dispersal over time to other continents.

5.

Nicholas C. Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Blackwell, 1993). Grimal provides a thorough and in-depth analysis of the economic, social, and political aspects of ancient Egyptian culture and society.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

Africa: South of the Sahara http://www.sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/history.html This Stanford University website provides links to dozens of other sites that contain a wide range of information on the African diaspora, religion, military history and slavery. This site also includes links to dissertations on African history and syllabi for instructors.

2.

African Voices http://www.mnh.si.edu/africanvoices/ This Smithsonian Institute site contains information on African history and culture and its impact on modern African sociopolitical conditions. The site provides links to other relevant sites.

3.

The Story of Africa http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index This BBC site yields a chronological narrative of the main subjects of African history as written by Africa’s top historians. It includes a link to 24 BBC radio programs that focus on key debates in African history.

4.

African Studies Center http://www.africa.upenn.edu/About_African/ww_hist.html The University of Pennsylvania’s African Studies Center homepage provides links to journals and other sites on African history and culture, including links to primary source documents in archives around the world.

5.

Internet African History Sourcebook http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/africa/africasbook.asp This in-depth site provides hundreds of links to reference materials on all aspects of African history and culture. Links to other sites provide professors’ syllabi, primary documents, secondary sources, journals, music, and art.

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CHAPTER 2: THE MIDDLE PASSAGE ca1450-1809

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Beginning in the early 1400s and lasting over three hundred years, the Atlantic slave trade brought Europeans and Africans together into a global system of capitalism that transported through the “Middle Passage” over eleven million Africans as slaves to the New World. The Atlantic slave trade reached a peak in the 1700s when more Africans than Europeans journeyed to the Americas. Suffering the horrific challenges of the Middle Passage, several million Africans died at sea. The survivors then toiled on sugar plantations or “agricultural factories,” primarily in Brazil and the Caribbean. Over 500,000 slaves were thus “seasoned” in the Caribbean or they were shipped directly to British North America to work on southern plantations; a lesser number were taken to the northern colonies to work as urban slaves. Africans resisted enslavement before, during, and after the Middle Passage and preserved their culture as much as possible within the Americas. The Atlantic slave trade declined in the late 1700s for moral as well as economic reasons when the British government began to industrialize and turn away from African slavery. Great Britain finally banned the slave trade in 1807; the U.S. did so in 1808. Spain and Brazil continued the practice for decades. LEARNING OBJECTIVES 2-1 How did the arrival of the Europeans affect Africa? 2-2 How did the slave trade in Africa differ from the Atlantic slave trade? 2-3 What was the “Middle Passage”? 2-4 How did technology affect the Middle Passage? 2-5 What happened to Africans after they crossed the Atlantic? 2-6 What was “seasoning?” 2-7 How did Africans adapt to conditions in the Americas? 2-8 How were slaves treated in the Americas? 2-9 Why did the Atlantic slave trade end? CHAPTER OUTLINE I. a. b. c. d. e. f. II.

The European Age of Exploration and Colonization The Atlantic slave trade stemmed from European trade expansion during the fifteenth century. (See Lecture Starter 1.) Portugal reached Asia by 1487. The Spanish monarchy financed Columbus’s westward voyages in 1492. Europeans quickly enslaved indigenous Americans in fields and mines. Many indigenous peoples died of European diseases and overwork or escaped. European colonizers needed laborers and so created the Atlantic slave trade.

The Slave Trade in Africa a. Slavery had existed in all cultures for thousands of years. b. In West Africa, slave labor was common and less oppressive than in the Americas.0 . 8


c. Arabs nurtured antiblack prejudice but race was not the major factor in the Islamic slave trade. d. Most African slaves were women and children destined for lives as concubines and servants in Africa and Asia. e. The demand for slaves in Muslim countries remained high from the tenth through the fifteenth centuries. f. The trans-Sahara slave trade rivaled the gold trade across the Sahara. g. The Atlantic slave trade surpassed in size the trans-Sahara slave trade after 1600. (See Discussion Question 1.) III.

IV.

The Origins of the Atlantic Slave Trade a. The Portuguese traded for gold, ivory, pepper and slaves. b. European dealers purchased slaves from African traders in 1472. c. The Portuguese utilized a West African system to distribute trade goods and procure African slaves. (See Discussion Question 2.) d. Interethnic rivalries in West Africa led to the warfare that produced these slaves. e. Until early 1500s, the Portuguese conducted the Atlantic slave trade on a tiny scale. f. Columbus’s voyages to the Americas drastically changed the slave trade. g. During the 1500s, gold mines in Spanish America and sugar plantations in Portuguese Brazil produced demand for labor. h. Europeans relied on the Atlantic slave trade to replace dead Indian workers. i. As early as 1502, African slaves lived on the island of Hispaniola. j. The Atlantic slave trade grew to huge proportions by 1600. (See MyLab Activity 2.) Growth of the Atlantic Slave Trade European demand for sugar made slave labor very profitable. Sugar plantations using slaves spread from Brazil to the Caribbean islands. By 1510 Spain had joined Portugal in the Atlantic slave trade. A new, harsher form of slavery appeared in the Americas. Slavery in the Americas was based on race. Only Africans and American Indians were enslaved. Most of the slaves were men or boys who served as agricultural laborers. Slaves were chattel—personal property—of their masters. Portugal and Spain dominated the slave trade during the sixteenth century. The profits of the slave trade were so great that by 1550 other European nations became involved. k. During the early 1600s, the Dutch became the top slave-trading nation. l. The Dutch shifted the center of sugar production to the West Indies. m. After 1713, English ships dominated the slave trade. n. Profits were invested in England and helped fund the Industrial Revolution. o. Africa became a market for cheap English manufactured goods. (See Long Assignment 1.) a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

V.

The African-American Ordeal from Capture to Destination . 9


a. West African intertribal warfare made captives available for enslavement. (See Lecture Starter 2.) b. African armies enslaved conquered towns and villages and kidnapped individuals. c. Captives were marched to the coast. d. Captives destined for the Atlantic trade went to forts called factories. e. The Middle Passage normally lasted between two and three months. f. Most captains were “tight packers” who squeezed slaves together in the holds of their ships. g. Mortality rates were high because unsanitary conditions encouraged epidemics. h. One-third of slaves died between their capture and embarkation on a slave ship. i. Another third died during the Middle Passage or during “seasoning.” j. Most slave rebellions took place while a ship prepared to set sail. k. African women were worth half the price of African men as slaves. (See MyLab Activity 1.) a. Crew members sexually abused African slave women. (See Long Assignment 2.) VI. a. b. c. d. e.

Landing and Sale in the West Indies The process of landing and sale was often protracted. The captain might take a week or more to sell his cargo. Slaves were required to oil their bodies to conceal blemishes. Slaves suffered humiliation from dysentery and close physical inspection. Slave auctions took place either on deck or in sale yards on shore. (See Short Assignment 1.)

VII. a. b. c.

Seasoning Seasoning followed sale and lasted two years. Seasoning included acculturating slaves to new work regimes. Planters divided slaves into three categories: Creoles, old Africans, and new Africans. d. Seasoning began the process of making new Africans more like Creoles. e. Planters preferred “seasoned” slaves to “unbroken” ones who came from Africa. f. After 1720 most slave imports into the American South came from Africa. g. Many slaves still came to North America from the Caribbean. h. Seasoning was a disciplinary process intended to modify the behavior and attitude of slaves and make them effective laborers. i. The slaves’ new masters gave them new names. j. Masters broke slaves into plantation work by assigning them to work gangs. k. New Africans served apprenticeships with old Africans or with Creoles. l. Old Africans and Creoles taught Africans how to adapt to a new place. m. Drivers directed the work gangs and were almost always black.

VIII. a. b. c.

The End of the Journey: Masters and Slaves in the Americas Many Africans did not survive seasoning. One-third died during their first three years in the West Indies. African men died at a greater rate than African women. . 10


d. Seasoning was successful if survival, eating new foods, and speaking a new language resulted. e. Most Africans who entered plantation society kept an African cultural identity. f. Africans created bonds with shipmates that became the basis of new families. (See Classroom Activity 1.) IX.

The Ending of the Atlantic Slave Trade a. English abolitionists began a religious crusade against slavery and the slave trade in the late 1700s. (See Classroom Activity 2.) b. England’s growing antipathy became crucial to the trade’s destruction. c. England’s industrializing economy was not dependent on the slave trade. d. England needed raw materials and markets for its manufactured goods. e. The British ruling class realized that more profits lay in industry than in the Atlantic slave trade. (See Short Assignment 2.)

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS Lecture Starters 1. Bring in a copy of a newspaper article dealing with a modern aspect of slavery. After the students finish reading the article, generate a discussion of the ways in which modern people are subject to enslavement. Use this opening to deliver a lecture on the historical the origins of the Atlantic slave trade in the 1400s. (See Chapter Outline I.a.) 2.

Use the Internet in class and pull up an important website related to the Atlantic slave trade (see the list of websites below). Use the visual resources on the website in class to get your students interested in one or more aspects of the Middle Passage. (See Chapter Outline V.a.)

Classroom Activities 1. After you have completed lecturing on the workings of the Atlantic slave trade, ask students to draw a large triangle in their notes while you do the same on the board. Then ask the students to form small groups and collectively place information within the triangle that pertains to the “triangular” Atlantic slave trade. (See Chapter Outline VIII.f.) 2.

Divide the class into two sections. Assign one half to create arguments against the Atlantic slave trade and the other half to provide arguments to continue it. After allowing the students a half hour to collect and organize their thoughts, form them into Parliament in the late 1700s and allow them to debate the merits of both sides. (See Chapter Outline IX.a.)

Discussion Questions 1. Why has the Islamic slave trade received less attention than the Atlantic trade even though it was numerically just as important? What perspectives are

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important to understanding the issue? How have modern events shaped our understanding of comparative slavery? (See Chapter Outline II.g.) 2.

Why did African leaders participate, along with Europeans, in the enslavement of other Africans in the Atlantic slave trade? What factors played a role in African decisions to participate? Do you think African leaders later reconsidered this economic relationship with Europeans? (See Chapter Outline III.c.)

MYLAB ACTIVITIES 1.

Document: A Slave Tells of His Capture in Africa in 1798 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/U S/documents/A_Slave_Tells_of_His_Capture_in_Africa_in_1798.html Assign the lengthy document and its questions as a take-home assignment for students to be turned in for a letter grade. After announcing the assignment, hold a read-out-loud exercise with students taking turns reading portions of the document. The questions listed at the bottom of the document should be answered in full sentences by the students. (See Chapter Outline V.k)

2.

Video: African Enslavement: The Terrible Transformation--Overview http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/US /visual_tool/AfricanEnslavement_1.html Show the four-minute film clip in class to students which depicts the origin of slavery in European and Latin American history as explained by a prominent historian on the subject. After showing the interview, hold a discussion about the origins of slavery in the Americas. Then issue a quiz that asks the central question: Why and how did slavery arrive in the Americas? (See Chapter Outline III.j.)

SUGGESTED ASSIGNMENTS Short Assignments 1. Ask the students to imagine themselves as newly enslaved Africans who have just arrived in the Americas. Have each student write a one-page letter to people back home explaining how he or she was acquired and what has happened to his or her life since his or her capture by Europeans. (See Chapter Outline VI.e.) 2.

Divide the class into several groups, and assign each group a section of the textbook to outline and present the main points orally in class the following week. Each group should designate a notetaker, presenters, and several analysts for the project. The group will turn in a written summary of the chapter section when the oral presentation is done. (See Chapter Outline IX.e.)

Long Assignments . 12


1.

Assign students to examine eight websites on the Atlantic slave trade and then to write a six-page paper comparing how the websites convey historical information to the user. A set of criteria by which to compare the sites should be developed by the instructor or students. (See Chapter Outline IV.o.)

2.

Assign students to write a ten-page research paper on a specific aspect of the Atlantic slave trade (African resistance, slave diet aboard ship, the lives of European crewmen, etc.), drawing upon primary and secondary resources found on the Internet, film, and/or in print at local libraries. (See Chapter Outline V.l.)

SUGGESTED FILMS/TV SHOWS 1.

Amistad (1997, DreamWorks, 152 minutes). This film portrays the Middle Passage and the real-life struggles of a group of African slaves fighting for their freedom across the Atlantic and within the U.S during the early 1800s.

2.

Secrets of the Dead: Slave Ship Mutiny (2010, PBS, 60 minutes). This documentary tells the compelling tale of a slave revolt at sea on the Meermin, a Dutch slave ship, in 1766. The story provides one example of the ways in which Africans resisted the Atlantic Slave Trade.

3.

Slavery and the Making of America (2005, PBS series, 4 hours). Directed by Leslie D. Farrell, this PBS miniseries focuses on the role of slavery in U.S. history. Part One, “The Terrible Transformation, 1450-1750,” provides factual information and convincing visual recreations of the Atlantic slave trade and the arrival of African as slaves in the Americas. See also the accompanying Web site, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/.

4.

Roots (1997, Warner Bros. miniseries, 12 hours). Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky in the late 1970s, this series is perhaps the best recreation of slavery in a docudrama on film. The first two episodes focus on the journey of Kunta Kinte from Africa to seasoning as a slave in British Virginia in the late 1700s.

5.

Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998, WGBH Boston miniseries distributed by PBS, 4 hours). Directed by Orlando Bagwell, this documentary traces the impact of slavery on African-American people from the Atlantic trade through emancipation.

SUGGESTED BOOKS/JOURNAL ARTICLES 1.

Alexander Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa (London, 1788), in America through the Eyes of Its People: Primary Sources in American History, 2nd ed. (New York: Longman, 1997).

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A medical doctor aboard a British slave ship, Falconbridge writes a detailed and engrossing firsthand account of the horrific conditions experienced by Africans during the Middle Passage to the Americas. 2.

Olaudah Equiano, The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African (New York: Dover, 1999). Although its authenticity has been questioned, the Equiano narrative provides crucial insight into an African perspective on the Atlantic slave trade from capture through the Middle Passage to sale and to freedom.

3.

Sylviane A. Diouf, Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas (New York: New York University Press, 1998). Diouf provides a fascinating analysis of African Muslims’ experiences as slaves during the Atlantic slave trade and throughout the Americas during the 1700s and 1800s.

4.

Adam Jochschild, Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005). A historical account of the political debate within the British Empire that eventually led to the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade by Parliament in 1807, the book focuses on the major political actors who conspired to end the institution.

5.

Marcus Rediker, The Slave Ship: A Human History (New York: Penguin, 2008). Rediker provides a lengthy and in-depth probe of the many facets of the slave ship and the Middle Passage experience for slave and enslaver alike. The book also reveals the maritime origins of African-American culture.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES 1.

A Slave Ship Speaks: The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie http://www.melfisher.org/exhibitions/henriettamarie/overview.htm A museum in Key West, Florida, relates the story of a sunken English slave ship from 1700, recovered recently by archaeologists. The site provides visuals of the artifacts found aboard the ship, as well as an overview of the Atlantic slave trade.

2.

Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello http://www.monticello.org The home of Thomas Jefferson is showcased in great detail, including various aspects of African-American slavery and the extensive plantation system that Jefferson operated in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

3.

Museum of the African Diaspora http://www.moadsf.org

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This San Francisco museum reveals the history, art and cultural richness that resulted from the dispersal of Africans throughout the world. The site provides information on the Atlantic slave trade. 4.

Slavery and the Making of America http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ The companion website for the 2005 PBS series provides a wealth of primary source material on many aspects of the Atlantic slave trade and African-American culture prior to emancipation.

5.

Search for Trouvadore http://slaveshiptrouvadore.org/documentary/ This website provides contextual information and resources to accompany the documentary Search for Trouvadore (2008) about the 1841 sinking and modern rediscovery of a Spanish slave ship. The site provides educational resources on the origins, development, and end of the Atlantic slave trade.

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CHAPTER 3: BLACK PEOPLE IN COLONIAL NORTH AMERICA 1526-1763

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter describes African-American life in colonial North America from the early sixteenth century to the end of the French and Indian War in 1763. It concentrates on the British colonies that stretched along the eastern coast of the continent but also briefly covers the black experience in Spanish Florida, in New Spain’s Southwestern borderlands, and in French Louisiana. During the seventeenth century, the plantation system that became a central part of black life in America for nearly two centuries took shape in the Chesapeake tobacco country and in the low country of South Carolina and Georgia. Unfree labor, which in the Chesapeake had originally involved both white and black people, solidified into a system of slavery based on race. Although the plantation system did not develop in Britain’s northern colonies, race-based slavery existed in them as well. African Americans responded to these conditions by interacting with Native Americans and other groups, preserving parts of their African culture, seeking strength through religion, and resisting and rebelling against enslavement. LEARNING OBJECTIVES 3-1 Who were the peoples of colonial North America? 3-2 How did black servitude develop in the Chesapeake? 3-3 What were the characteristics of plantation slavery from 1700 to 1750? 3-4 What factors affected the way slaves lived in early America? 3-5 What role did miscegenation and creolization have in early AfricanAmerican history? 3-6 How did African-American culture originate? 3-7 How did slavery in the northern colonies differ from slavery in the southern colonies? 3-8 How did the experience of African Americans under French and Spanish rule in North America compare to that in the British colonies? 3-9 What was African-American life like in New Spain’s northern borderlands? 3-10 How did slavery affect black women in colonial America? 3-11 How did African Americans resist slavery? CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

The Peoples of North America a. African immigrants and their children preserved African cultural heritage. b. The original inhabitants of North America are known as American Indians. (See Lecture Starter 1.) c. Natives were culturally diverse and spoke many different languages. d. Natives descended from Asians who migrated at least 15,000 years ago. e. Europeans called them Indians from Columbus’s voyage of 1492. f. European nations sent relatively few settlers to North America. g. European nations traded with American Indians and expropriated their labor. (See Discussion Question 1.) . 16


h. Spain’s colonial economy depended increasingly on enslaved Africans. i. African slaves arrived in the Spanish colonies as early as 1526. j. The Dutch at New Netherlands utilized African slave labor. k. The French in their colonies in New France relied on trade with natives. l. The English created the colony of Virginia with a capital at Jamestown in 1607. m. English tobacco planters in North America did not initially use African slaves. n. Until 1700, white labor produced most of the tobacco in the Chesapeake colonies. o. By early 1619, there were 32 people of African descent living at Jamestown. p. Twenty more Africans arrived that summer and were sold by a Dutch slave ship. (See Classroom Activity 1.) II. a. a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

h. i. j. k. III.

Black Servitude in the Chesapeake Black people represented a small part of a labor force in the Chesapeake. (See Discussion Question 2.) Indentured servitude came to include adults who sold their freedom for two to seven years in return for the cost of their voyage to North America. Before the 1670s the English in the Chesapeake did not draw a strict line between white freedom and black slavery. By 1700 the British tobacco-producing colonies transitioned from white indentured servitude to black chattel slavery. Britain’s Caribbean sugar colonies set a precedent for enslaving Africans. Masters made distinctions between black and white indentured servants. By the 1640s, blacks could not bear arms and could not become Christians. Courts in Virginia and Maryland began to assume that it was permissible for persons of African descent to serve their masters for life rather than a set term. (See MyLab Activity 3.) By the mid-1660s statutes in the Chesapeake colonies assumed servitude to be the natural condition of black people. (See MyLab Activity 2.) In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion of white and black indentured servants. Bacon’s uprising convinced elites that reliance on white laborers was dangerous. White Americans realized that their prosperity rested on denying blacks freedom.

Plantation Slavery, 1700-1750 a. The reliance of Chesapeake planters on slavery to meet their labor needs resulted from racial prejudice. b. The demand for tobacco in Europe increased sharply and the slave labor system expanded rapidly. c. Between 1700 and 1770, some 80,000 Africans arrived in the tobacco colonies. d. By 1750, 144,872 slaves lived in Virginia and Maryland, accounting for 61 percent of all the slaves in British North America. (See Classroom Activity 2.) e. Another 40,000 slaves lived in the rice-producing regions of South Carolina and Georgia, accounting for 17 percent. f. After 1750 some black men began to hold skilled occupations on plantations. g. Black women did weaving but otherwise had less access to skilled occupations. h. In the Carolinas and Georgia, the West Indian plantation system and rice became entrenched. . 17


i. Rice cultivation required large plantations similar to those on the sugar islands of the West Indies. (See Short Assignment 2.) j. As the region’s black population grew, white people became fearful of revolt; by 1698 Carolina had the strictest slave code in North America. k. Black people in Carolina faced the quandary of being both feared and needed by white people. IV. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

V. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.

VI.

Slave Life in Early America Eighteenth-century housing for slaves was minimal and often temporary. In the Chesapeake, small log cabins predominated. African styles of architecture were more common in coastal South Carolina and Georgia. During summer, men wore breechcloths; women wore skirts, leaving their upper bodies bare; and children went naked until puberty. Later men wore shirts, trousers, and hats while working in the fields. Women wore simple dresses and covered their heads with handkerchiefs. Food consisted of corn, yams, salt pork, and occasionally salt beef and salt fish. Slaves caught fish and raised chickens and rabbits. In the South Carolina low country, rice became a vital part of slave diets. Slaves supplemented this limited diet with vegetables they raised in their gardens. (See Lecture Starter 2.) Miscegenation and Creolization African immigrants upon arrival interacted with white servants and Indians. Interracial sexual contacts—miscegenation—produced people of mixed race. Cultural exchanges became an essential part of the process of creolization that led African parents to produce African-American children. The dominant British minority defined persons of mixed race as black. Those of mixed African-European ancestry did not receive enhanced legal status. Miscegenation was less extensive and accepted in British North America than in sugar colonies in the Caribbean, Latin America, or French Canada. Colonial assemblies banned interracial marriages mainly to keep white women from bearing mulatto children. Whites feared that a free mixed-race class would weaken white supremacy. The assemblies allowed white male masters to sexually exploit black female slaves because the children would be slaves.

The Origins of African-American Culture a. Creolization and miscegenation transformed Africans into African Americans. b. The second generation of African Americans maintained a West African heritage. c. The preservation of the West African extended family was the basis of AfricanAmerican culture. d. After the 1750s sex ratios became more balanced and black family life flourished. e. By 1750 extended black families based on biological relationships dominated. f. West African incest taboos encouraged slaves to pick mates who lived on neighboring plantations. . 18


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