African Explorers in America

African Explorers in America

• Africans traveled with Europeans during the early exploration of the Americas in the 16th century.
• These Africans, known as ladinos (Portuguese for "knowledgeable"), were part of the Atlantic creole generation.
• Ladinos acted as intermediaries before chattel slavery became widespread.
• Their knowledge of various languages, cultures, and business practices offered social mobility.
• Africans played diverse roles, including conquistadores, enslaved laborers, and free skilled workers.
• Juan Garrido, a conquistador from the Kongo kingdom, was the first known African in North America, exploring Florida in 1513.
• Estevanico, an enslaved African healer from Morocco, explored Texas and the southwestern US in 1528.

Departure Zones in Africa & the Slave Trade to the U.S.

• More people arrived in the Americas from Africa than any other region in the world during the 19th century due to the slave trade.
• Charleston, South Carolina, was the main hub for the U.S. slave trade.
• Nearly half of Africans brought directly to the U.S. arrived in Charleston.
• Portugal, Great Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands controlled the slave trade.
• Senegambia and Angola provided almost half of the enslaved people.
• African ethnic groups brought diverse cultures, practices, and beliefs that influenced African American communities.

Freedom, Enslavement, and Resistance

• Africans were marched from inland areas to the Atlantic coast for months, then held in unsanitary dungeons.
• The Middle Passage (transatlantic journey) lasted up to three months.
• The Middle Passage caused significant loss of life through disease, malnourishment, suicide attempts, and torture.
• Africans resisted during the Middle Passage and in the Americas through hunger strikes, attempts to escape, and revolts.
• Europeans had a significant effect on disrupting African kingdoms through the slave trade.
• Slave narratives, poetry, and other forms of expression documented the experience of enslaved Africans.
• These served as historical accounts, political statements, and literary works.

Architecture and Iconography of a Slave Ship

• Slave ship design prioritized maximizing the number of enslaved persons transported for maximum profit.
• Anti-slavery activists documented the inhumane conditions of slave ships.
• Black individuals used slave ship iconography to deal with historical trauma.
• 12.5 million Africans were forcibly moved across 36,000+ known voyages over 350 years.
• Enslavers treated enslaved people as commodities, anonymous, identical, and interchangeable.
• Enslaved people resisted deracination, commodification, and enslavement through various methods of collective and individual resistance.
• The La Amistad revolt, led by Sengbe Pieh (Joseph Cinque), was notable for successfully challenging enslavement.

Slave Auctions and the Domestic Slave Trade

• Enslavers used legal and white supremacist ideologies to control the enslaved and their descendants.
• Enslaved people who resisted auctions faced harsh punishments, often in front of family and friends.
• African American writers documented the negative emotional & physical effects of being sold at auctions.
• The U.S. government banned the transatlantic slave trade in 1808; enslaved populations grew from births afterward.
• The domestic slave trade (Second Middle Passage) relocated millions from the Upper South to the Lower South.
• It was the largest forced migration in U.S. history, displacing over one million enslaved Africans American people.

Labor, Culture, and Economy

• Enslaved people of various ages and genders performed various kinds of labor tasks.
• Specific roles for laborers were more dependent on the enslaver(s)' preference than the enslaved person(s) desire.
• Some enslaved people were bound to institutions like churches, factories, or colleges.
• Enslaved Africans brought a variety of skills, including those for blacksmithing, basket-weaving, and agricultural production.

Slavery and American Law: Slave Codes and Landmark Cases

• The U.S. Constitution does not use the term "slave" or "slavery".
• Slave codes established race-based chattel slavery.
• Slave codes restricted movement, congregation, weapon possession, and clothing choices.
• These codes were prevalent in various slaveholding societies, including the Code Noir of French colonies.
• Free states also enacted codes that restricted African Americans' opportunities.
• The Dred Scott decision (1857) ruled against African Americans' citizenship, claiming enslaved people were property.
• South Carolina's 1740 slave code was updated in response to the Stono Rebellion.

The Construction of Race and the Reproduction of Status

• Partus sequitur ventrem (child follows the mother's status) was a 17th-century law.
• Partus established hereditary racial slavery, tying a child's status to their mother's.
• The "one-drop rule" in the late 19th and 20th centuries classified anyone with some African descent as Black.

Creating African American Culture

• African American art, music, and language blended African, European, Indigenous, and community influences.
• Pottery and quilt-making preserved African aesthetics and storytelling.
• African American music utilized African rhythms, call-and-response, and Christian elements.
• African American creole languages emerged, such as Gullah.
• Spirituals served both spiritual and political functions.

Black Pride, Identity, and the Question of Naming

• The U.S. banned international slave trade in 1808; the debate over how to categorize African Americans intensified in the 19th century.
• The American Colonization Society promoted emigration to Africa to separate Black and White populations.
• Many African Americans rejected "African" to emphasize American identity, favoring terms like "Afro-American," "African American," and "Black."

The Stono Rebellion & Fort Mose

• St. Augustine, Florida, was the oldest settlement with both African American and European origins, established in 1565.
• Spanish Florida offered freedom and asylum for slaves escaping from colonies.
• Fort Mose was the the first free Black town in the U.S., established in 1738.
• The 1739 Stono Rebellion involved enslaved people seeking refuge in Florida.

Legacies of the Haitian Revolution

• The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) was the only successful slave rebellion to overthrow colonial rule.
• Haiti became the second independent nation in the Americas.
• The revolution and France's subsequent expense led to Napoleon's sale of Louisiana to the U.S.
• The Haitians’ revolution inspired other enslaved and free African groups throughout the Americas and the Caribbean region.

Resistance and Revolts in the United States

• Enslaved people resisted slavery through various actions like slowing down work, breaking tools, stealing, and running away.
• Churches fostered resistance, providing community, information exchange, and political organization.
• The earliest known slave revolt in the U.S. occurred in 1526.
• The German Coast Uprising (1811) was the largest slave revolt in U.S. history, led by Charles Deslondes.
• The Creole mutiny (1841) resulted in enslaved people achieving freedom in the Bahamas.

Black Organizing in the North

• The free Black population grew in the 1700s and early 1800s, reaching 12% of the Black population by 1860.
• Black communities in the North formed strong institutions like mutual aid societies, schools, and churches.
• Black women like Maria W. Stewart championed activism, connecting race, gender, and class in their efforts for abolition and women's rights.

Maroon Societies and Autonomous Black Communities

• Maroon communities arose in areas away from European controls, creating unique cultures.
• Maroon communities included palenques (in Spanish-speaking regions) and quilombos (in Brazil).
• Maroon communities were essential to resistance movements for freedom, and shaped cultural legacies.

Diasporic Connection: Slavery and Freedom in Brazil

• Brazil received more enslaved Africans than any other place in the Americas.
• Enslaved Africans worked in diverse industries, including plantations, mines, ranches, and local production.
• African cultural practices, like Capoeira, were preserved and developed in Brazil.
• Brazil ended slavery in 1888.

African Americans in Indigenous Territory

• Indigenous groups, including the "Civilized Five" (Cherokee, Seminole, Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw), sometimes practiced slavery.
• The 1830 Indian Removal Act forcibly relocated Indigenous groups, incorporating some enslaved against their will.
• The Seminole tribe's slavery practices differed, with enslaved peoples sometimes treated as family members and more rarely being legally passed to children.
• Black Seminoles formed alliances with the Seminole tribe and played important roles in resisting removal.

Debates about Emigration, Colonization, and Belonging in America

• Organizations like the American Colonization Society promoted African American emigration to Africa
• Many African Americans sought liberation from slavery and prejudice, seeking destinations across the African diaspora
• African American emigrationists considered different places for immigration/colonization, including Haiti, West Africa, and Latin America.
• Anti-emigrationists argued that African Americans should achieve liberation within American society and gain equal rights and liberties in the U.S.

Black Political Thought & Radical Resistance

• Radical activists advocated for abolishing slavery through direct action, including resistance and revolts.
• Radical resistance challenged the belief that moral suasion (persuasive appeals) was an adequate strategy, given the country's history.
• Published accounts exposed slavery horrors to motivate enslaved African Americans to pursue freedom.

Legacies of Resistance in African American Art & Photography

• Photography emerged and gained popularity in the 19th century.
• African Americans used it to counter stereotypes, portray dignity, and emphasize Black citizenry.
• Sojourner Truth and others used photography for political advocacy and public awareness.
• Douglass was a prominent figure photographed during the 19th century with a significant number of photographs, and used his photographs to give lectures and acquire new patrons for his newspaper.
• Contemporary artists have used photography and their art forms to create work capturing the history of African Americans.

Gender and Resistance in Slave Narratives

• Sexual violence against enslaved women was rampant.
• Enslaved women resisted through fighting, using abortion techniques, and infanticide.
• Slave narratives by enslaved and formerly enslaved African American women and men highlighted the various horrors and resistance strategies.
• 19th-century gender norms shaped many enslaved women's narratives; some focused on family, domestic life, and vulnerability to assault.

The Civil War & Black Communities

• Thousands of African Americans (free and enslaved) joined the Union Army to oppose slavery.
• Many enslaved individuals used the opportunity to escape and join the Union.
• Black military service during the Civil War impacted Black communities in the North and South
• The war demonstrated the evolving identity of African Americans as U.S. citizens, despite significant ongoing discrimination.
• Black military service was not welcomed at first, but later necessity and labor shortages permitted their participation.

Freedom Days: Commemorating the Ongoing Struggle for Freedom

• The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) freed enslaved people in Confederate states.
• Legal slavery in the U.S. ended with the 13th Amendment in 1865.
• Juneteenth (June 19, 1865) commemorated the announcement of freedom to enslaved Texas residents.
• Juneteenth celebrates the struggle for freedom, African Americans' commitment to joy to cope with oppression, and their roles in seeking equal rights after slavery.