African American History

African American History

Shani Rose

ETH 125

Professor Marlys Eggum

January 27, 2013

Throughout history, African Americans have endured some precise difficult trials and tribulations. African Americans have overcome so many obstacles that it is astonishing that they stayed strong. We will now take a brief look back into the history of this incredible and strong race and some tribulations they have faced. It started back in the mid-1500s when European mariners began bringing black Africans over as slaves. Forcing blacks to come to America as slaves were a unique part of American history. Slaves were transported on slave ships from Africa across the Atlantic Ocean known as “The Middle Passage”; normally took between six to eight weeks. Traders exchanged slaves for goods; they would then transport them to the West Indies and would sell slaves for profit. Once they made it to America slaves were sold at an auction to the highest bidder. The slaves would be placed in a pen and would be covered with grease or tar to make them look healthy so that they could receive more money. Slaves would also be branded with a hot iron so they could be identified as slaves

During these auctions, family members could be split up if the bidder did not want an entire family; only the strongest and healthiest slaves were required by the traders. These auctions were extremely hard for slaves because they didn’t understand the language and they also didn’t have a clue what was going on. By 1860, almost one- third of the population consisted of slaves in the south. Once the slaves were purchased they were taken to the plantation and put to work in the cotton field. The men and women planted, harvested, and removed weeds from the land. Teenagers worked also worked in the field while children pulled weeds and picked insects off the crops, and took...