The first way that I saw how slavery was an encompassing system that structured American social and economic relationships was in 1613 when the first shipment of tobacco was sent to London. The tobacco economy was rapidly rising and therefore the need for labor was increasing in Virginia. Though labor was needed the English did not want to use many African servants because of the negative images they had about them. English portrayed black color as “dark and deadly” “wicked” and infused with the Devil. The English choose to use white indentured servants from England, Germany and Ireland. The indentured servants were mostly white but there were blacks who also worked side by side with the whites in the tobacco fields. Some of the English servants were running away with and sleeping with the black servants. This caused the Virginia legislation to establish new laws. Africans were receiving more harsh punishment than the white indentured servant which in the end defined Africans as slaves.
All people were implicated in this woven tapestry of slavery. There were slaves all throughout the Americas North and South. The South had become a more prominent area for slaves because of the exporting of cotton. This seemed to be an important part of an economic transformation in America. America was relying on the slaves and indentured servants for the growth and riches of the economy. This marked the importance of international trade in the Americas which today is still an important part of our economic system.
The Civil War was an important part of ending slavery. The black man wanted to join the white man and end slavery. It was interesting to see that even after the Civil War, slaves were considered freedmen, but still had to struggle to make ends meet. The free white man was not just going to hand over his land to the black man because slavery had ended. They made the black man work and pay off his debts to own his crops. It became a vicious cycle where it seemed that even though the black man was considered free he was still bound to slavery because he could never pay off his debt. It was not until years later, during the “New South” era that the industrial market started to boom. Blacks were now an important part of industrial labor. To the white man slavery seemed to have ended but, to the black man slavery, segregation, and discrimination was still in full force. In most states the black man was still unable to vote and was still not able to ride the same trains or be educated like the whites.
I think that religion plays a big part in social control in our lives today. It has formed some of our laws today. Look at gay marriage. States are still trying to fight to allow or not allow people of the same sex to marry. Religion has controlled what people say is right and wrong. With this social control comes continued segregation and discrimination against people and their beliefs. Will this viscious cycle ever end?
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Blog Post 1
To start off, one statement I want to make is, that after all of the history classes I have had in my many years of education I have never had a more detailed description of how the Europeans colonized and settled the Americas.
The English were determined to “conquer a country” and that country was going to be America. Takaki gives excellent descriptions, and must I say frustrating descriptions, of how the British proceed to colonize the Americas and make it their own, “white”. In order to colonize the Americas they would have to somehow remove the Indians or make then conform to their practices and beliefs. While reading Takaki I had a difficult time understanding why the British thought they could colonize the Americas after the Indians had already discovered the land. Since the British had succeeded in the colonization projects in Ireland, their next project would be to colonize the New World. The English colonizers, very quickly, compared the Indians to the Irish. Initially, “savagery” was defined in relationship to the Irish, and the Indians were incorporated into their definition. (Takaki p.31) The British saw the Indians as barbarous hunters who had different skin color, customs, religion and government.
As the English started to make settlement in Virginia, the English were not able to survive in the wilderness without the Indians coming to their rescue by feeding them and caring for them. The disturbing part of this settlement was that after the Indians cared for the English to help them survive, a year later turned on the Indians and killed them and forced them to flee the land which they discovered. The Indians became “slaves” to the English. The interesting part of the English colonization at this point was that as the Indians tried to fight back and kill the English colonizers the English used this, to justify that the Indians were “savages” and that the land was truly English.
Next the English took route to New England territory, again where the Indians have already established their land. The Indians had a productive agriculture system established when the English arrived. The English colonizers again, were educated by the Indians on how to produce such growth and agriculture, but only to turn on them and take over their land. After many years of the increase in English settlement the Indians became overcome by disease that the English population had brought to their land. The English then proceeded to state that this was what God wanted to make more room for the settlers. The conflict between the Europeans and Indians continued for many years and lead to many wars and killings. Again as I was reading A Different Mirror became very disturbed and ashamed to know that these are my ancestors.
When Jefferson came into the picture he took sides with the English and informed the Indians that the transfer of Indian lands was done fairly and legally (Takaki p.46). Jefferson proceeded to say that in order for them to survive they would have to conform and adapt to the white culture. Again the Indians were given no choice. The frustrating part of all of this is that it all began because of their different culture and skin color.
We can see resonances of this racial formation in contemporary popular culture in many ways. One way is that I have been in situations where American citizens have stated that if you live in America you should speak English. Instead of trying to conform to other languages Americans typically expect other people from different backgrounds to conform to our language and way of living. It is interesting to think that in our pop culture we still judge people on their language, how they dress, and their beliefs. I wouldn’t say that Americans see people from different cultures as “savages” but, Americans continue to see others as “different” if they do not conform to the “norm” of society.
The English were determined to “conquer a country” and that country was going to be America. Takaki gives excellent descriptions, and must I say frustrating descriptions, of how the British proceed to colonize the Americas and make it their own, “white”. In order to colonize the Americas they would have to somehow remove the Indians or make then conform to their practices and beliefs. While reading Takaki I had a difficult time understanding why the British thought they could colonize the Americas after the Indians had already discovered the land. Since the British had succeeded in the colonization projects in Ireland, their next project would be to colonize the New World. The English colonizers, very quickly, compared the Indians to the Irish. Initially, “savagery” was defined in relationship to the Irish, and the Indians were incorporated into their definition. (Takaki p.31) The British saw the Indians as barbarous hunters who had different skin color, customs, religion and government.
As the English started to make settlement in Virginia, the English were not able to survive in the wilderness without the Indians coming to their rescue by feeding them and caring for them. The disturbing part of this settlement was that after the Indians cared for the English to help them survive, a year later turned on the Indians and killed them and forced them to flee the land which they discovered. The Indians became “slaves” to the English. The interesting part of the English colonization at this point was that as the Indians tried to fight back and kill the English colonizers the English used this, to justify that the Indians were “savages” and that the land was truly English.
Next the English took route to New England territory, again where the Indians have already established their land. The Indians had a productive agriculture system established when the English arrived. The English colonizers again, were educated by the Indians on how to produce such growth and agriculture, but only to turn on them and take over their land. After many years of the increase in English settlement the Indians became overcome by disease that the English population had brought to their land. The English then proceeded to state that this was what God wanted to make more room for the settlers. The conflict between the Europeans and Indians continued for many years and lead to many wars and killings. Again as I was reading A Different Mirror became very disturbed and ashamed to know that these are my ancestors.
When Jefferson came into the picture he took sides with the English and informed the Indians that the transfer of Indian lands was done fairly and legally (Takaki p.46). Jefferson proceeded to say that in order for them to survive they would have to conform and adapt to the white culture. Again the Indians were given no choice. The frustrating part of all of this is that it all began because of their different culture and skin color.
We can see resonances of this racial formation in contemporary popular culture in many ways. One way is that I have been in situations where American citizens have stated that if you live in America you should speak English. Instead of trying to conform to other languages Americans typically expect other people from different backgrounds to conform to our language and way of living. It is interesting to think that in our pop culture we still judge people on their language, how they dress, and their beliefs. I wouldn’t say that Americans see people from different cultures as “savages” but, Americans continue to see others as “different” if they do not conform to the “norm” of society.
Monday, May 18, 2009
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