What is Black
History?
Indenture Servants and
Slavery
Abolishment
Revolution
Reconstruction
Post-Reconstruction
Black Renaissance
Urban Unrest
Black Pride
Blacks Today
Music
Return to
Introduction
What Is Black
History?
Black American history originated from a group of black
slaves who were forcibly shipped from their homes in Africa to
America where they were compelled to work. They came in chains,
brought to the New World as slaves. They did not immigrate, seeking
greater opportunity, like others who came to America. They were
seized from their villages and homes and not allowed to take any
possessions with them.
The ancestors of most Black Americans came from the
African continent. Most of the Africans imported to the Americas came
from Gambia, the Cold Coast, Guinea or Senegal.
The moving of African slaves to other countries began as
early as the fifteenth century. Over the next 250 years,
approximately one million slaves were imported in North America. The
aim of slave -trade was to make money for the ship owners who, having
bought slaves very cheaply in Africa, sold them again in the Americas
at a large profit to slave owners, who would use them to do all the
hard labour of farms and cotton plants. Since making money was the
only objective, no consideration was given to the Africans as human
beings.
The slaves who arrived at the African slave markets came
from tribes all over Africa, and they were thrown together in the
slave ships without regard for tribe or language. It was in the slave
ship captains interests that slaves not be able to communicate with
one another. The slave ship captains and slave owners did not
understand that the slaves were able to communicate with one another
quite well through their music. Through their songs, the slaves
shared the rhythms of sorrow and their fear and their hopelessness.
Through the rhythms f their make-shift drums, they communicated their
calls to rebellion.
Slave masters did not realise that the drums the slaves
made were used for communication. They thought the slaves were just
making their African music. It did not occur to them that the
drumbeat were a sort of "Morse code" the slaves used to make plans
for revolts or escapes. When it finally became clear to the slave
masters that the drums were used being used as a form of
communication, drums were outlawed. but that did not stop the slaves
from keeping the drumbeat alive. Instead, they used their feet.
Taken from, Stamp on Black History
http://www.tqd.advanced.org/2667/
Indentured
servants
In the South, most slaves helped plant and harvest crops.
The typical slave worked on a small farm with one or two other blacks
alongside the master and his family. Other slaves worked in and
around the master's house instead of out in the fields. In Southern
towns and cities, blacks served as messengers, house servants, and
craftsmen. In the North, farming was not as important to the economy
as it was in the South. Black slaves therefore worked in a wider
variety of jobs. They provided skilled and unskilled labour in homes,
ships, factories and shipyards.
Even in the best circumstances, slaves were property and
could be bought, sold, lent or rented out. Their opportunities to
learn and achieve were very limited. The slaves had little personal
incentive to work hard. Slavery offered little room for promotions.
Taken from:
http://www.tqd.advanced.org/2667/
Abolishment
movement
Despite the risks, some blacks constantly tried to
undermine the slavery system. Some slaves chose to destroy property
or fake illnesses to avoid having to work. Others took bolder steps
to overthrow their masters by joining slave revolts. Still others
managed to escape. But many-perhaps most-slaves chose not to resist
in the face of almost certain failure and death.
Slaves were suspicious of whites who told them about the
"Underground Railroad" that would take them to freedom. The
Underground Railroad was composed of volunteers who would hide slaves
travelling north to Canada. Slaves were hidden during daylight hours
at stops along the route and, using the North Star, they moved in the
dark to the next location 10 or 15 miles north. Until they reached
Canada, they were never completely safe. If they were caught by a
slave catcher or United States marshal, they would be returned to
their master, who would probably make a great display of flogging
them. It was risky for whites to be involved, but it was even more
dangerous for blacks who helped slaves to escape. Facing a death
sentence if they were captured , it took great courage for them to
help slaves escape.
Taken from: Stamp of Black History
http://www.tqd.advanced.org/2667/
The American
Revolution
When the revolution started, some blacks were caught up in
revolutionary fervour. At Bunker Hill, slaves and free blacks
participated. when Washington took command, he told recruiters not to
enlist blacks, but some were already in the army. In October 1775, it
was decided to bar blocks from the Continental Army.
A moth later, Governor Dunmore of Virginia, declared that
any black or indentured worker servant who joined the British Army
would be free. Slaves began deserting the plantations and enlisting
in the Royal Army. Wherever the British army went, slaves flocked in.
The seriousness of his mistake was made apparent to Washington when
many of his own slaves escaped.
Wisely reversing the policy, in December 1775 Washington
order that free blacks might be enlisted in the Continental army.
Most states permitted both slave and free black enlistment in their
militia. Black soldiers participated in every major battle from
Bunker Hill to Yorktown. They also served in the United States Navy.
On April 6, 1909, history was made when two men, one Black
and one White, planted the American flag at the North Pole. Thus,
Matthew A. Henson, a black man, became one of the first Americans to
reach the top of the world. Yet, undoubtedly due to his race, he was
for years denied recognition of his role in this discovery.
Taken from: Stamp on Black History
http://www.tqd.advanced.org/2667/
Reconstruction
The Civil War finally came to an end on April 9, 1865 when
Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General
Ulysses S. Grant near the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.
President Abraham Lincoln and most other white northerners were eager
to put the country back together again as soon as possible. Their
plans were to reorganise and rebuild the defeated South. This program
was known as Reconstruction.
Blacks took an active part in all aspects of public life
during Reconstruction. They voted in large numbers and were very
active in the conventions that formulated new state constitutions in
the South. Many blacks held political office at the local and state
levels. Fourteen blacks were elected to the United States House of
Representatives and two were elected to the United States Senate.
Blacks also pressed for and helped to establish public education
where none had previously existed.
Taken from: Stamp on Black History
http://www.tqd.advanced/2667/
Post
Reconstruction
Rising racial tension and hard times in the post-war
period caused some blacks to go to the West. In the West, black faces
had always been rare, but explorers like fur traders Jean Baptiste
Point Du Sable and James P. Beckworthy had been there before the war.
America's westward expansion has traditionally excluded
black pioneers and adventurers. Historians are now admitting that
thousands of black men an women played various roles in the
exploration and settlement of lands west of Mississippi.
In the progress down the winding road from slavery toward
freedom, black Americans have relied on civil rights leaders and
spokespersons to carry the beacon of hope. Black leaders have been
the means of communicating to the nations the wishes of the
inarticulate masses. Their tactics have ranged from petitions of free
blacks during the infancy of the republic to the moral echoratation
of Frederick Douglas; from the example of and opportunism of Booker
T. Washington to the rage and daring of Marcus A. Garvey; from the
blunt anger of WEB DuBois to the cool calculation of Charles H.
Houston; and from the blazing zeal of Mary McLeod Bethune of the
consuming pacifism of Martin Luther King Junior.
Taken from: Stamp on Black History
http://www.tqd.davanced/2667/
Black Pride
When President Ronald Reagan took office, blacks once
again found themselves shut out of the highest levels of government.
Although he insisted that his moves to strengthen the economy helped
all Americans, blacks as well as whites, President Reagan opposed or
ignored many issues of interest to Black Americans.
Discouraged by these setbacks, some blacks decided that
the only way to make progress on issues of importance to black
Americans was to reject traditional politics. The chief
characteristic of the black experience in the 1970s and the early
1980s was the development of of black consciousness and black pride.
By the late 1980s, there were black mayors in many of our
country's larger cities and some of its smaller ones too. Black
representation is state legislatures, school boards, and state courts
was also increasing, especially in the South.
When George Bush took office as president in January 1989,
some blacks thought he would reverse the trends of the Reagan years
and revive the "Second Reconstruction." He repeatedly expressed his
admiration for the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior and
observed the national holiday honouring the slain civil rights
activists. President Bush also welcomed African National Congress
leader Nelson Mandela to the White House in 1990.
Taken From: Stamp on Black History
http://www.tqd.advanced/2667/
The Black
Renaissance
In the decade following WW1, an artistic explosion
occurred within the Black community that produced a wealth of music,
literature, poetry. dance and visual art. The Harlem Renaissance was
a period of creativity among black artists, writers, musicians,
orators, dramatists and entertainers and was centred in Harlem, New
York. The term renaissance was used because the movement built on the
heritage of black Americans.
At the end of WW1, Harlem also contained the largest black
urban population in the world and quickly became the black cultural
center, attracting immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, the
British West Indies, and elsewhere, bringing with them their
languages, religions, foods, music and literature.
Music during the Harlem Renaissance ranged from jazz to
rumbas, hymns to parlour ragtime, and from spirituals to chamber
quartets.
Taken from: Stamp on Black History
http://www.tqd.advanced.org/2667/
Urban
Unrest
Violence against black and white civil rights activists
was common-place. The federal response to the violent reaction of
segrationists was the passage of several new laws, such as the Civil
Rights Act in 1964.
A special presidential commission looked into the reasons
behind the riots. They found despite all the court decisions,
sit-ins, marches and boycotts the average black American was still
living with the crippling effects of segregation, discrimination,
and, above all, racism.
When Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated in 1968, a
new wave of riots spread across the country. A report by the National
Advisory Commission of Civil Disorders, appointed by President
Johnson, identified more than 150 riots between 1965 and 1968. The
1968 assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior-a
champion of nonviolence-added to the sense of despair most blacks
felt.
Black Pride
When President Ronald Reagan took office, blacks once
again found themselves shut out of the highest levels of government.
Although he insisted that his moves to strengthen the economy helped
all Americans, blacks as well as whites, President Reagan opposed or
ignored many issues of interest to Black Americans.
Discouraged by these setbacks, some blacks decided that
the only way to make progress on issues of importance to black
Americans was to reject traditional politics. The chief
characteristic of the black experience in the 1970s and the early
1980s was the development of of black consciousness and black pride.
By the late 1980s, there were black mayors in many of our
country's larger cities and some of its smaller ones too. Black
representation is state legislatures, school boards, and state courts
was also increasing, especially in the South.
When George Bush took office as president in January 1989,
some blacks thought he would reverse the trends of the Reagan years
and revive the "Second Reconstruction." He repeatedly expressed his
admiration for the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior and
observed the national holiday honouring the slain civil rights
activists. President Bush also welcomed African National Congress
leader Nelson Mandela to the White House in 1990.
Taken From: Stamp on Black History
http://www.tqd.advanced.org/2667/
Blacks
Today
Black Americans are increasingly recognising what they
have contributed to the national culture and the global community and
the extent of what more they have to offer. One of the symbolic
victories that has contributed to this new sense of
self-determination and self-recognition among Black Americans was the
establishment of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday in 1983.
Blacks in the United States today are mainly an urban
people. they have migrated from the rural South to cities of North
and West during the 20th century. Their migration constitutes one of
the major migrations of people in the United States history. The
black community has developed a number of distinctive cultural
features that black Americans look upon with pride. Many of these
features reflect the influence of cultural traditions that originated
in Africa. Other features reflect the uniqueness of the black
American in the United States such as their speech, extended family
arrangements, dress and music etc.
Though black American music has never gone away in terms
of worldwide popularity, it is still present in America today.
Music in the 1940's to
the 1960's
The music business was affected in a variety of ways. Many
musicians were either enlisted or drafted into the armed services.
Shortages of building materials caused new entertainment and club
construction to come to a halt. Entertainers were asked to do their
part for the war effort by performing at war bond sales and for those
at various military bases around the country and abroad.
Music in the 1950's
Dinah Washington, an important blues singer of this
period, earned the title "Queen of the Blues." Black Americans had
plenty to be "blue" about in the years after WW2. By 1955, postwar
prosperity had found its way to the recording business. The 45rpm
disk was taking over from the old 78rpm record, and since it was
lighter, more durable, and easy to make and distribute, it gave a
real boost to record companies. More and more people were buying
records and record players. Every club worthy of the name had a
jukebox.
Music in the 1960's
Soul came out of rhythm and blues and also out of gospel.
In fact, it was closer to gospel because it was a hopeful music, a
music that celebrated blackness in a way that black music had never
done before. It is no accident that soul music arose in the 1960's, a
period of unprecedented gains for black people and a great surge in
black pride. Beginning with the boycott of segregated buses in the
late 1950s to the Civil Rights movement in 1960 in Greenville, North
Carolina.
The Black Americans who marched, sat -in and boycotted in
order to win equal rights followed the principles of non-violence.
Their leaders were predominantly ministers, such as Reverend Martin
Luther King Junior. They were proud to have won their legal victories
by moral means. The music that came to be called soul also preached a
message of love.
Taken from: Stamp on Black History
http://www.tqd.advanced.org/2667/