Eth125 Historical

Week 5 Historical Report

Jonathan Robert Harmon

5/12/2013

ETH125

Dear Grandson,

It has been some time since the last time I have sent you a letter. I miss you and your parents dearly, but understand that although times are getting better, it has also been a long hard journey. In comparison to my life, your father and mother have had a much richer life, and you, well your life will be full of great opportunities thanks to society's ability to adapt to a more humane way of living while balancing a greater sense of tolerance and acceptance. Unlike your old Grand pop, you were fortunate enough to be born free of shackles, both physically and figuratively. Although slavery has been abolished for some time now, there will still be many challenges for you to overcome in your live in regards to interactions within a diverse, ever changing community. It is always important to know and remember who you are and from where you came, never forgetting your people's struggle to survive, furthering strengthening you and yours to overcome future endeavors.

It's hard to fully understand that less than seventy years ago our people were considered property. We were brought here in the 1830's by British settlers, against our will, stripped of all rights, culture, and dignity (Schaefer, 2012). We came from a proud people of African descent, strong and rich in culture. Many of us had come from tribal origins of Gas, Ibos, and Yoruba's, simple snatched up and sold as property, at least for those of us who were able to survive the brutal voyage (Schaefer, 2012). There were five central conditions that dictated our situation of slavery; "the slave term was for life, it was passed on to generations through inheritance, slaves were considered property, the denial of all human rights, and coercion used to maintain the system by those who enforced it (Schaefer, 20120). A set of laws were put in place and called Slave Codes, meant to clearly state the enforced limitations of our...