Slavery and its Impact on American Law

Introduction - Lesson One

• African-American Studies (AAS) is an interdisciplinary class combining multiple subjects, not just history, including literature and art.
• The course analyzes culture, history, and contributions of people of African descent in the U.S. and globally.
• AAS developed from the political efforts of Black people before becoming a university-level study.
• This subject directly resulted from the Civil Rights Movement (1960s-70s) where students protested lack of representation in college curricula.

1968 San Francisco Protests

• In late 1968, African-American students at San Francisco State College led a 133-day campus strike protesting lack of representation in the curriculum and for at least one Black faculty member in the Black Studies program.
• Near the end of the Civil Rights Movement, many Black college students attended predominantly white institutions for the first time in American history.

How Does African-American Studies Deepen Understanding?

• Africa is the birthplace of humanity and the origin of African-Americans.
• African-American Studies examines early African societies including art, architecture, technology, politics, music, and religion.
• The innovations in early African societies shaped the identities and experiences of modern African Americans.
• African history is complex, and its contributions to the world are vast.

Lesson 1.3 - Population Growth & Ethnolinguistic Diversity

• Bantu Movement/Expansion involved technological advancements (tools, agriculture, crops) causing population growth resulting in migration.
• Most Africans in Central/South Africa descend from Bantu peoples.
• Africa has more than 500 languages (e.g., Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa).
• The ancestral home of African Americans and many people in the diaspora.
• Genetic heritage of many African Americans come from West and Central African communities.

Lesson 1.4 - Africa's Ancient Societies

• Kingdom of Axum emerged around 100 BCE, located in present-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia.
• Axum connected to trade with India and the Roman Empire through the Red Sea.
• Axum developed its own currency and writing system (Ge'ez).
• King Ezana of Axum was the first African king to embrace Christianity which became a long-lasting kingdom, more than 1000 years before colonization.
• Nubia (present-day Sudan) was an ancient civilization along the Nile River. Involved ancient conflicts with Egypt, trade of gold and luxury items. The 25th dynasty of the Black Pharaohs.

Lesson 1.5 - Sudanic Empires (Ghana, Mali, and Songhai)

• The empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai were located in West Africa and known for their gold mines and trade routes linking the Sahara and sub-Saharan areas to Europe.
• Trade in North Africa also spread Islam.
• Gold was the key to trade and development of these empires.

Lesson 1.6 - Learning Traditions (West African Empires)

• Trading cities of West African empires were learning centers.
• Timbuktu, in Mali, became a hub for education, with universities, and book trade.
• Scholars in Timbuktu included astronomers, mathematicians, jurists, and architects.

Lesson 1.7 - Indigenous Cosmologies & Religious Syncretism

• African leaders in Northern Africa incorporated Islam and Christianity into their own beliefs.
• Africans blended local traditional beliefs with Islam and Christianity.
• A significant percentage (almost 1/4) of enslaved Africans came from Christian societies and also Muslim societies in Africa, as well as other communities.

Lesson 1.8 - Culture & Trade in Southern and East Africa (Great Zimbabwe & the Swahili Coast)

• The Shona people in Great Zimbabwe were wealthy due to trade of gold, ivory and cattle.
• The Shona's large stone architecture served as a center for long distance trade.
• The Swahili Coast connected Africa's interior to Arab, Persian, Indian, and Chinese trade communities.
• During the 11th-15th centuries, Swahili Coast city-states were united by shared language and religion.
• The Portuguese, who invaded several city-states in the 16th century, shifted their trade routes to the Atlantic, thus weakening the Swahili Coast.

Lesson 1.9 - West Central Africa: The Kingdom of Kongo

• In 1491, King Nzinga and his son of Kongo converted the kingdom to Roman Catholicism.
• Kongo's conversion strengthened its relationship with Portugal, which increased wealth.
• Ivory, salt, and textiles were major trading items.
• A distinct form of African Catholicism emerged combining Christianity with local traditions and culture.
• The Portuguese King demanded access to trade enslaved people in exchange for military assistance.
• Kongo was a major source of enslaved peoples in the Atlantic slave trade to the Americas, especially during the 16th-17th centuries.

Lesson 1.10 - Kinship & Political Leadership

• Many West Central Africans were Christians before their arrival in America.
• In Kongo, people named their children after saints or based on the day of their birth.

Lesson 1.11 - Early Africa & Global Politics; Global Africans

• Trade between West African kingdoms and Portugal for gold, goods, and enslaved people grew steadily, bypassing the trans-Saharan trade routes in the 15th century.
• African elites, including ambassadors from African rulers, travelled to Mediterranean cities for diplomatic, educational, and religious purposes.
• African elites participated in domestic labor, as guards, entertainers, vendors, and knights.

Lesson 2.1 - African Explorers in America

• In the early 16th century, some free and enslaved Africans traveled with Europeans during their early explorations of the Americas.
• Africans played a diverse role in many roles including conquerers, laborers.
• Juan Garrido, a conquistador born in Kongo, moved to Lisbon, Portugal and then to North America. He explored North America and is believed to have been one of the first known Africans to arrive in North America.
• Estebanico explored Texas and the Southwestern United States for Spain.

Lesson 2.2 - Departure Zones in Africa & The Slave Trade to the U.S.

• Many more people from Africa arrived in the Americas due to the slave trade in the 19th century compared to other regions.
• The main hubs for US slave trading were located in Charleston, South Carolina.
• Portugal, Great Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands controlled the slave trade.

Lesson 2.3 - Freedom, Enslavement, and Resistance

• The Middle Passage was a brutal and often deadly journey across the Atlantic.
• Enslaved people were often beaten, tortured, sexually assaulted, and suffered from disease and malnutrition.
• A significant percentage of enslaved people died during the Middle Passage due to disease, starvation or suicide.
• They were also separated from their families and communities.

Lesson 2.4 - Architecture and Iconography of a Slave Ship

• Slave ships were designed to maximize profit by maximizing the number of enslaved people they could transport, which included maximizing the space available on the ships.
• Figures opposed to slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries used diagrams of the slave ships to highlight the cruelty and inhumanity.
• Black artists and visual creators have also used slave ship imagery to honor the memory of their ancestors.
• Enslaved people were treated as anonymous, homogenous, and easily replaced commodities.

Lesson 2.5 - Slave Auctions and the Domestic Slave Trade

• Enslavers used the law and white supremacy to control and exploit enslaved Africans and their descendants.

Lesson 2.6 - Freedom, Enslavement, and Resistance (Labor, Culture, and Economy)

• Enslaved people performed many domestic, agricultural, and skilled labor roles.
• Some were bound to factories, churches, and colleges, not a single person.

Lesson 2.7 - Slavery and American Law: Slave Codes and Landmark Cases

• Slave codes codified slavery as a race-based and inheritable institution, defining it as a lifelong condition for those enslaved.
• Many restrictions were placed on those enslaved, including restrictions of movement and freedoms.

Lesson 2.8 - The Construction of Race & the Reproduction of Social Status

• Partus sequitur ventrem was a 17th-century law.
• Partus defined a child's legal status based on the mother's enslaved legal status.
• This law ensured that children of enslaved African American women also inherited enslaved status.
• It undermined African Americans' claims to their children.

Lesson 2.9 - Creating African American Culture

• African American creative expression blended influences from African ancestors, local European and Indigenous cultures, and community members.

Lesson 2.10 - Black Pride, Identity, and the Question of Naming

• In 1808, the U.S. banned the international slave trade but illegal imports continued.
• This debate emerged over slavery and population.

Lesson 2.11 - The Stono Rebellion & Fort Mose

• Many enslaved people fled to Spanish Florida, where they received a potential refuge from slavery.
• St. Augustine was founded in 1565, in Florida, so it was easily established and accepted as a settlement for many who were escaping from slavery.

Lesson 2.12 - Legacies of the Haitian Revolution

• The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) was the only successful uprising of enslaved people that overthrew a colonial government in the Americas.
• The revolution transformed Saint-Domingue into the Black republic of Haiti, which abolished slavery and became a beacon of hope.
• The revolution resulted in many other uprisings in other African diasporic communities.

Lesson 2.13 - Resistance and Revolts in the United States

• Enslaved people used various methods of resistance against slavery including slowing down work, breaking tools, stealing food, and attempting to escape.
• Religious services and churches provided support and connections to the wider community and encouraged resistance, providing a sense of community spirit.
• Many people organized politically, especially in the North.
• Enslaved Africans helped support uprisings and revolts.

Lesson 2.14 - Black Political Thought and Radical Resistance

• Radical activists advocated for the overthrow of slavery through direct action, including revolts, and if needed, violence.

Lesson 2.15 - Maroon Societies and Autonomous Black Communities

• Maroon communities formed across the African diaspora in remote areas to escape the control of enslavers.
• These maroon communities created their own systems of governance and culture that combined African, Indigenous, and European influences.
• Maroon communities provided support resources for freedom and leaving a lasting cultural legacy and also provided assistance to other enslaved people.

Lesson 2.16 - Diasporic Connection: Slavery and Freedom in Brazil

• Brazil received more enslaved Africans than any other location in the Americas.
• After 1800, enslavement slowly decreased in Brazil.
• Enslaved Africans in Brazil developed many skills and traditions which were also passed onto many future generations.
• African cultural traditions preserved by enslaved Africans in Brazil continue to be practiced today, like Capoeira.

Lesson 2.17 - African Americans in Indigenous Territory

• Indigenous groups, such as the Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw, were actively involved in the slave trade.
• These groups were largely influenced and encouraged by US Indian agents during the land swap and removal of Indigenous people.
• Some indigenous groups fought for and accepted enslaved African peoples, adopting them into their social systems as kin or family members.
• Many Native American groups were fighting to retain their culture and land as well as the Indigenous peoples.

Lesson 2.18 - Debates about Emigration, Colonization, and Belonging in America

• The movement for colonization inspired by the abolition of slavery, created several societies that were set up and developed to relocate people from the Americas.
• Some white abolitionist and enslavers supported the colonization movement to keep the Black and white populations separate.
• African-American emigrationists sought alternative places outside of the U.S. to create new communities, based on the ideas of freedom from slavery and racial discrimination, which caused a great debate.

Lesson 2.19 - Radical Political Thought & Radical Resistance

• Radical activists advocated for the overthrow of slavery through direct action and violence.

Lesson 2.20 - Legacies of Resistance in African American Art & Photography

• New technology (photography) was an influential tool to help represent the experiences of African Americans in the 19th century and to change perspectives.
• Black activists actively embraced new creative technologies to counter harmful stereotypes.
• The photography of prominent African American figures is very significant because it highlighted their identities and agency and showed the potential of African Americans through freedom.

Lesson 2.21 - Gender and Resistance in Slave Narratives

• Slave narratives by formerly enslaved women reflected 19th-century gender norms and focused on issues like domestic life, modesty, family, and the constant vulnerability to sexual abuse.
• These narratives also highlighted the common roles of Black women during the 19th-century within societies like domestics, cooks, mothers.

Lesson 2.22 - The Civil War & Black Communities

• Thousands of free and enslaved African Americans joined the Union war effort to promote abolition and Black citizenship.
• Many enslaved people in the South escaped to join the Union Army.
• Free African Americans in the North raised money for formerly enslaved refugees.

Lesson 2.23 - Freedom Days: Commemorating the Ongoing Struggle for Freedom

• The 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, a wartime order, declared freedom for enslaved people held in the 11 Confederate states still at war against the Union.

Lesson 2.24 - Freedom Days: Commemorating the Ongoing Struggle for Freedom (continued)

• The 13th Amendment secured the permanent abolition of slavery in the U.S.