African+slaves

=**The African Slaves: A Perspective on American History**=

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by Bekka Ord and Naomi Moritz


 * Introduction:** The slave trade was a unkind way of getting cheep free labor. African People were plucked off the the costs of Africa and shipped to America. Pre-1442, African slaves lived in the western and some eastern countries of Africa. Geographical features that would have limited this group’s ability to move include: the Atlantic Ocean, but for society embellished with water travel such as slave traders the vast amount of coast mad it easy to harvest African people. Pre-1442, these people lived in empires and kingdoms in Africa. Eventually, the African slaves would shape American history in the following ways: by fighting for and against the British in the revolution and by having laws passed that gave them freedom. They played a huge part in the Civil War, considering that the US was divide into North vs. South because of the political issues of slavery. Now a gargantuan number of America's population is made up of the descendents of african people.


 * Religion (Worldview):** The Africans, when in their home land of Africa, practiced many religions, one of which was Khosan. The Khosan beliefs were based upon the rebirth theory, they believed that people died and then where reborn. When the African people/slaves where stolen to America they lost most of their beliefs and became Christian.




 * HISTORY:**

In 1441 the first slaves were brought to Portugal from northern Maritania. In 1360-1890 the Wlof Empire was thriving in Senegal.
 * 1492**: **Columbus’ Arrival in the Americas**

In 1560 the first slaves where brought to Spanish Florida. In Senegal 1514-1776 the Empire of Gretfulo prospered along with many other 15th century kingdoms.
 * 1521**: **Cortes Encounters the Aztecs in Mexico**

In 1619 slavery was started in the United States. The population of African slaves was about 11,863,000.
 * 1607**: **English Colonists Arrive at Jamestown**

The transatlantic slave trade, was primarily the trading of African people to America that took place around the Atlantic Ocean. It lasted from the 16th to the 19th centuries.
 * 1687**: **English Colonies Expand**

One million slaves were moved west due to cotton; this broke up many families, because slaves where sold individually for the of marketing.
 * 1776-1787**: **American Revolution; U.S. Constitution**

In 1812 the population of African slaves in all states was around 887,612. The British offered African slaves freedom if they fought for them in the war. The trans Alantic slave trade became illegal around the time of 1808.
 * 1802**: **Tlingit Battle the Russians at Sitka**

The number of African slaves in all states was 2,487,355 and the number of free Africans was approximate population was 386,293. The value of slaves was about $3billion 1830 currency. So with the information given we shall plug this mathematical misnomer into Anonymous' calculator and received an answer of approximately $1206 1830 currency per slave.
 * 1839: The Amistad; the Trail of Tears**

There were 3,200,600 African slaves in America. The Fugitive Slave Law in 1850, forced Northern police officers to aid in the recapture of runaways.
 * 1850**: **Fugitive Slave Law Made**

In 1865 the number of African slaves was 3,950,546. Also this year the 13th amendment prohibited slavery, except as punishment for a crime. President Lincoln supported this so that after the war ended slavery would not keep happening.
 * 1863**: **The U.S. Civil War; Emancipation Proclamation**

During the 1890's sharecropping became very popular. Families would rent land and a house from landowners and pay their rent when they harvested. This was very common because after the civil war thousands of former farmers and slaves were forced off their lands due to the bad economy.
 * 1890**: **Westward Movement; Reform Movements**

In 2008 the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution apologizing for American slavery. In 2009 Barack Obama was elected the first African American president. According to Nigerian-American anthropologist John Ogbu, descendants of African Slaves are "involuntary minorities," which means they are descendants of people who found themselves under U.S. jurisdiction against their will. Th African Slaves where barged over to the US like cattle by European slave traders. The Africans had no choice what so ever in there immigration to the US. Most/all African American ancestors fought and rebelled against there own slavery, and even after being "free" African Americans never retained equal rights with that of European descendants, but with the break-through of an African President we may be on the path to getting those rights. Many African Americans frequently state their views on the government through music, stories, and politics. This is much like what the slaves would do when working on southern plantations they would sing their complaints and religious beliefs, songs such as __"Pick a Bail of Cotton"__ is telling about the hard work the slaves had to do. media type="youtube" key="HBWdpSBiiGw" height="285" width="313"
 * 2009**: **Today**

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Loango, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolof_Empire, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Khasso, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Saalum, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Fouta_Djallon, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denanke_Kingdom, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=african+kingdom+history&go=Go, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newsouth/4698
 * Works Cited:**