Filipino Values

Different FiIipino Cultures

 The African American History in the United States

African Americans have at various times in United States history been referred to as
African, colored, Negro, Afro-American, and black, as well as African American. Exactly
what portion of the African American population is of solely African ancestry is not
known. Over the past 300 and more years in the United States, considerable racial
mixture has taken place between persons of African descent and those with other racial
backgrounds, mainly of white European or American Indian ancestry. Historically, the
predominant attitude toward racial group membership in the United States has been
that persons having any black African ancestry are considered to be African American.
In some parts of the United States, especially in the antebellum South, laws were
written to define racial group membership in this way, generally to the detriment of
those who were not Caucasian. It is important to note, however, that ancestry and
physical characteristics are only part of what has set black Americans apart as a distinct
group.
African Americans Under Slavery: 1600-1865
The first Africans in the New World arrived with Spanish and Portuguese explorers and
settlers. By 1600 an estimated 275,000 Africans, both free and slave, were in Central
and South America and the Caribbean area. Africans first arrived in the area that
became the United States in 1619, when a handful of captives were sold by the captain
of a Dutch man-of-war to settlers at Jamestown. Others were brought in increasing
numbers to fill the desire for labor in a country where land was plentiful and labor
scarce. By the end of the 17th century, approximately 1,300,000 Africans had landed in
the New World. From 1701 to 1810 the number reached 6,000,000, with another
1,800,000 arriving after 1810. Some Africans were brought directly to the English
colonies in North America. Others landed as slaves in the West Indies and were later
resold and shipped to the mainland.
Slavery in America. The earliest African arrivals were viewed in the same way as
indentured servants from Europe. This similarity did not long continue. By the latter
half of the 17th century, clear differences existed in the treatment of black and white
servants. A 1662 Virginia law assumed Africans would remain servants for life, and a
1667 act declared that "Baptism doth not alter the condition of the person as to his
bondage or freedom ." By 1740 the slavery system in colonial America was fully
developed. A Virginia law in that year declared slaves to be "chattel personal in the
hands of their owners and possessors for all intents, construction, and purpose
whatsoever."

The principle by which persons of African ancestry were considered the personal
property of others prevailed in North America for more than two-thirds of the three and
a half centuries since the first Africans arrived there. Its influences increased even
though the English colonies won independence and articulated national ideals in direct
opposition to slavery. In spite of numerous ideological conflicts, however, the slavery
system was maintained in the United States until 1865, and widespread anti black
attitudes nurtured by slavery continued thereafter.

Prior to the American Revolution, slavery existed in all the colonies. The ideals of the
Revolution and the limited profitability of slavery in the North resulted in its
abandonment in northern states during the last quarter of the 18th century. At the
same time, the strength of slavery increased in the South, with the continuing demand
for cheap labor by the tobacco growers and cotton farmers of the Southern states. By
1850, 92% of all American blacks were concentrated in the South, and of this group
approximately 95% were slaves.

Life on the plantations was hard, and no consideration was given to the cultural
traditions of blacks. In the slave market men were separated from their wives, and
frequently children were taken from their mothers. Family and tribal links were thus
almost immediately cut. Fifty percent of the slaves were owned by 10% of the 385,000
slave owners. This concentration within a limited number of agricultural units had
important consequences for the lives of most blacks.

Under the plantation system, gang labor was the typical form of employment.
Overseers were harsh as a matter of general practice, and brutality was common.
Punishment was meted out at the absolute discretion of the owner or the owner's
agent. Slaves could own no property unless sanctioned by a slave master, and rape of a
female slave was not considered a crime except as it represented trespassing on
another property. Slaves could not present evidence in court against whites. Housing,
food, and clothing were of poor quality and seldom exceeded what was considered
minimally necessary to maintain the desired level of work. Owners reinforced
submissive behavior not so much by positive rewards as by severe punishment of those
who did not conform. In most of the South it was illegal to teach a black to read or write.

Opposition by Blacks. All Southern states passed slave codes intended to control
slaves and prevent any expression of opposition. Outbreaks of opposition did occur,
however, including the Gabriel Prosser revolt of 1800, the revolt led by Denmark Vesey
in 1822, the Nat Turner rebellion of 1831, and many smaller uprisings. As a result the
substance and the enforcement of repressive laws against blacks became more severe.
Blacks were forbidden to carry arms or to gather in numbers except in the presence of a
white person.

Free blacks, whether living in the North or South, were confronted with attitudes and
actions that differed little from those facing Southern black slaves. Discrimination
existed in most social and economic activities as well as in voting and education. In 1857
the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of the U.S. Supreme Court placed the authority of the
Constitution behind decisions made by states regarding the treatment of blacks.
According to the Dred Scott decision, African Americans, even if free, were not
intended to be included under the word "citizen" as defined in the Declaration of
Independence and could, therefore, claim none of the rights and privileges provided for
in that document.

African Americans responded to their treatment under slavery in a variety of ways. In

addition to such persons as Prosser, Vesey, and Turner, who openly opposed the slave
system, thousands of blacks escaped from slavery and moved to the Northern United
States or to Canada. Others sought ways to retain some sense of individuality and some
vestige of their African heritage under difficult circumstances. Still others accepted the
images of themselves that white America sought to project onto them. The result in
some cases was the "Uncle Tom" or "Sambo" personality, the black who accepted his or
her lowly position as evidence that whites were superior to blacks.

In spite of the absence of legal status and the adverse effects of the domestic slave
trade, the African American family retained its traditional role in ordering the relations
between adults and children. Much religious activity among slaves reflected the
influences of African religious practices and served as a means by which slaves could
develop and promote views of themselves different from those held by the slave owner.
Outside the South, blacks established separate churches and, eventually,
denominations within Protestantism, including many black Baptist churches. Another
early denominational effort was the African Methodist Episcopal Church, initially called
the Free African Society, which was founded (1787) in Philadelphia by Richard Allen.

African Americans have at various times in United States history been referred to as
African, colored, Negro, Afro-American, and black, as well as African American. Exactly
what portion of the African American population is of solely African ancestry is not
known. Over the past 300 and more years in the United States, considerable racial
mixture has taken place between persons of African descent and those with other racial
backgrounds, mainly of white European or American Indian ancestry. Historically, the
predominant attitude toward racial group membership in the United States has been
that persons having any black African ancestry are considered to be African American.
In some parts of the United States, especially in the antebellum South, laws were
written to define racial group membership in this way, generally to the detriment of
those who were not Caucasian. It is important to note, however, that ancestry and
physical characteristics are only part of what has set black Americans apart as a distinct
group.