Lecture #4: African/African-Americans in Slavery and Freedom

Family Slavery

*When you own 1 or 2 slaves and they live and eat same as the rest of the family Tend to assimilate easier

"Age of Flexibility"

1619-1680 Africans were treated as indentured servants because we didnt know how to deal with them, once freed they could buy land and have rights, they sued for their freedom, similar to West African slavery

Chattel Slavery

1680- Africans were treated as animals. No rights. Dehumanizing.

House Slaves

Actually had bad lives -Wife is in charge of punishment (BURNS ON UR VAG IF THE HUSBAND RAPED YOU SO HE WOULDNT WANT YOU ANYMORE) -Dressed well, fed well -men whipped on backs, women whipped on vag and boobs -they were then thankful when kicked out of the house

Civil War

Af Ams fought on both sides. They had a motivation to fight South did not want slaves to fight because that gave them guns

African vs. African American

African- Someone from Africa (Has gone through the slave trade) African American- has a background of africa but were personally born in America. AKA born into slavery

Antebellum

Basically what most movies depict of Slavery period. *Of the entire south, only 25% owned slaves * Of the 25% of those individuals own more than 1 or 2 slaves *The 1% are the ones who owned most of the slaves (HE GOT MONEEEEYYYYY)

Gradual Emancipation Laws

Beginning 1776 The system of slavery horrified the North. The laws gave them time to sell their slaves to the South. Some states made African Americans born after a set date not allowed to be slaves.

"Putting one over on the master/overseer"

Everyone being slower, slaves pretending not to know how to rake

Ku Klux Klan

Filled with important members of society -LYNCHING

Indigenous Culture

Food, music, family life, religion Not assimilating, acting "west african"

15th Amendment

Gave African Americans the right to vote South is pissed

Poll tax

Had to pay to be able to vote -tax was $1 -blacks could not afford it, Rich whites could -80% of whites could not

Grandfather Clause

If your grandfather voted in 1865, you could too -poor whites, wealthy whites, and very rich blacks

Three-Fifths clause

Institutionalized chattel slavery

Extra Legal Organizations

Ku Klux Klan- use illegal ways to make sure blacks would not vote -scare tactics -would threat to kill their families if they voted

Great Migrations

Movement of African Americans from north,

Civil Rights Movement

Nationwide -JIM CROW -north vs south

Free Blacks

Only 2% of the population -9% of black population -mostly lived in Northern states -coming from manumission, gradual emancipation -age of flexibility

13th Amendment

Outlawed slavery with emancipation

Sharecropping

Plantation owners will let former slaves "borrow" land and then at the end of set time, they ask for a share of their crops -Turned into a cycle of poverty -Stuck on poverty because you can't get out of debt -debt transferred to children -GOAL= "Keep them as laborers, Give them no rights"

Lynching

Public hangings -for any reason at all -executed by jury, judge, and executioner

Jim Crow Laws-Black Codes

Segregation -dividing african americans from whites -strict rules -Curfew, couldn't be seen in groups of more than 3, cannot loiter

Segregation

Separate but "equal"

Miscegenation

Sex between people of different races Most white men of the house would rape the household women slaves.

Passive Resistance

Slave Resistance: -"Putting one over on the master" -"Slowing down" -Playing sick, acting dumb, being slow

Active Resistance

Slave Resistance: -murder, fire, rebellion (4) -Running away -VERY RARE MAJOR CONSEQUENCES

African Americans Owning Slaves

Sometimes beat their slaves even harder than white owners to try to prove they were good enough to "fit in"

Fugitive Slave Clause

Stated that if a slave escaped and reached a free state, people from that state were supposed to return them to their owner. Most northerners didn't abide by this because they were against slavery.

Manumission

The process of a slave owner willingly freeing their slave making them a free black person

"Slowing Down"

passive resistance, taking forever to do a simple task

Slave Code

~700 pages of what a slave can and cannot do *Africans were enslaved for their lifetime *A child born will take the status of their mother

Three Periods of Slavery

-Formative/Colonial (1619-1776) -Revolutionary Period (1776-1800) -Antebellum Period (1800-1860)

Literacy Tests

-Must be able to read and explain ballot before voting to prove good enough