The African Burial Ground located in the Lower Manhattan section of New York City is a National Monument dedicated to the thousands of African slaves who were forcibly taken from their native homelands into a life of servitude by Europeans. These slaves were brought to New York before it became the great city that is now today and forced to work to build it into a stable colony without any compensation. Approximately 15,000 are estimated to be buried within the burial ground. The remains of men, women and children of all ages were found at the site and their remains provide further proof of the cruel and violent injustices slaves had to face at the hands of their slavers.
For years the burial ground was a forgotten part of American history until it was rediscovered in 1991. The site was then designated as historical landmark and later a national
…show more content…
One large coffin capable of fitting an adult and a smaller coffin presumably of a young child. The significance of the inclusion of a child’s coffin is an example of how slave life was hard on everyone, including the children of slaves who were slaves themselves. This is made further evident by the nearby wall containing photographs of the remains found at the site with the age and gender listed below each. I found this the wall of photographs to be particularly haunting not only because of the graphic imagery, but because it illustrates how young many of the bodies were. It is estimated that nearly forty percent of the bodies excavated at the burial ground were under the age of 15, with infants under age 2 possessing the highest mortality rate. Malnutrition and disease are considered to be the cause of the majority of deaths of slaves as a result of the poor and harsh conditions slaves had to live
Whitney Battle-Baptiste, the author of Black Feminist Archaeology creates the framework of this book because as a Black woman who is interested in race, gender, and cultural views, believes that too often in mainstream archaeological theory, Black culture and the experiences of Black women and our families are overlooked and dismissed. Dr. Baptiste states her explanation on how joining Black Feminist Theory and archaeology in her projects provides a way to open a discussion between archaeologists, which is her intent. It also shows that “when archaeologists critically engage with a dialogue about the intersectionality of race and gender, we begin to see the deeper forms of oppression and how they affect the lives of marginalized populations.”.
The origin tale of the African American population in the American soil reveals a narrative of a diasporic faction that endeavored brutal sufferings to attain fundamental human rights. Captured and forcefully transported in unbearable conditions over the Atlantic Ocean to the New World, a staggering number of Africans were destined to barbaric slavery as a result of the increasing demand of labor in Brazil and the Caribbean. African slaves endured abominable conditions, merged various cultures to construct a blended society that pillared them through the physical and psychological hardships, and hungered for their freedom and recognition.
According to a chart on slavery and cotton production in America, cotton and slavery are directly proportional (Doc B). For example, in 1840 the number of slaves in America was 25,00000 slaves, while the number of bales was 125,0000 bales. Another economic reason that made slavery a dominating reality of Southern life in the antebellum period was slave auctions. On the auction block, families were often sundered, due to economic reasons. These economic reasons included insolvency or the segregation of “property” among successors. The separation of families was one of slavery’s biggest psychological nightmares. The poster from 1823 promoted a slave auction (Doc A). The point of view of the poster is in favor of slavery. In this poster, the slaves are described in terms of their capability to do tasks. Slaves would be inspected like an animal by potential buyers. Potential buyers would have slaves open their mouths, and would also prod them with sticks. The younger and healthier the slave was, the more expensive he/she
Ever take a midnight train to Georgia? No, well ever drive through Georgia? When driving through Georgia on State Road 49, there is a little town called Andersonville that is very easy to miss. To many it is just another town. Yet this town has its own trail. The Andersonville Trail is a small brown dirt road that leads visitors to the Andersonville National Historic Site (Roberts xi). This National Historic Site looks like a “well- tended” national cemetery. On closer examination, this cemetery is nothing like Arlington (Roberts xi). “In this national cemetery, the marble headstones are so close together, they almost touch. The markers appear to be one long head...
The killings made by the slaves are saddening, too. Mutilating the whites and leaving their bodies lying is inhumane. It is such a shocking story. This book was meant to teach the reader on the inhumanity of slavery. It also gives us the image of what happened during the past years when slavery was practised.
Although the !Kung San of southern Africa differ greatly from the people in the west African nation of Mali, both areas share similar problems. Both suffer from diseases, illnesses, malnutrition, and having to adapt to the ever changing and advancing cultures around them. What I found to be the most significant problem that is shared between both areas is that the people suffered from a lack of education. In the book Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa by Katherine A. Dettwyler, there is a lack of education in proper nutritional practices, taking care of children and newborns, and basic medical knowledge and practices. The Dobe Ju/’hoansi have recently started putting in schools to help children receive an education to help them have better success with the surrounding peoples and culture, but there is a lack of attendance in these schools. There are also many education issues in proper sexual practices that would help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS, in a place in the world were theses illnesses are at surprisingly high levels.
For more than two hundred years, a certain group of people lived in misery; conditions so inhumane that the only simile that can compare to such, would be the image of a caged animal dying to live, yet whose live is perished by the awful chains that dragged him back into a dark world of torture and misfortune. Yes, I am referring to African Americans, whose beautiful heritage, one which is full of cultural beauty and extraordinary people, was stained by the privilege given to white men at one point in the history of the United States. Though slavery has been “abolished” for quite some years; or perhaps it is the ideal driven to us by our modern society and the lines that make up our constitution, there is a new kind of slavery. One which in
This showed records of an African Burial Ground beneath the site. Many believed that after 200+ years, no remains would be left. To the archeologists’ surprise in 1991, a large amount of untouched, preserved human remains that were protected by up to 25 feet of soil was uncovered. Nearly 40% of the people that were buried at this site were under the age of 15. Most of the children buried died before the age of two. This shows the rough conditions that the slaves had to endure during their
Mortality rates among inner city African Americans have a detrimental increase depending on the quality of life from the adolescent stages of growth. African Americans historically have had the highest mortality rates among American racial and ethnic groups.1 The living conditions associated with inner-cities may be a contributing factor along with limited medical facilities and care options along with the lack of education and childhood socioeconomic family disadvantages. Studies have shown these early risk factors may be a major contributor to mortality rates in African American adults later on. Further studies show there are cultural barriers built in the inner city, which hinders the request for help or asking for help within their community.
Harris, Leslie M. “In The Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863. New York: University of Chicago Press, 2003. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/317749.html
Rome, Georgia is a beautiful area and embodies a rich portion of Georgia’s history. Hargrove, Mitchell, and Lumpkin, some of the founders of Rome, are buried in the area. Mitchell was the founder who suggested the naming the fledgling town after the great city of Rome. The small town mirrored the great city with the seven hills and the great river running through it. A marker is found at the Myrtle Hill Cemetery, but no record of his funeral or burial can be found; without exhuming the grave, no one will ever no with certainty whether it is honoring him as a founder or his actual grave. Lumpkin, another founder, is buried at the original city cemetery, Oak Hill Cemetery.
I chose this research question because I found it strange that on the Voyage on the Alligator 38 slave children died and no slave adults. I found this information to really catch my attention. Some questions came to me while I was going over this data base, why would only children mortality occur during this journey?
In From Slavery to Freedom (2007), it was said that “the transition from slavery to freedom represents one of the major themes in the history of African Diaspora in the Americas” (para. 1). African American history plays an important role in American history not only because the Civil Rights Movement, but because of the strength and courage of Afro-Americans struggling to live a good life in America. Afro-Americans have been present in this country since the early 1600’s, and have been making history since. We as Americans have studied American history all throughout school, and took one Month out of the year to studied African American history. Of course we learn some things about the important people and events in African American history, but some of the most important things remain untold which will take more than a month to learn about.
conditions aboard ship were dreadful. The maximum number of slaves was jammed into the hull, chained to forestall revolts or suicides by drowning. Food, ventilation, light, and sanitatio...
The study of metallurgy in Africa has been dominated by a concern with origins and antiquity. Some Anthropologists believe that African metallurgy was an early, independent invention, while others believe that it was an innovation, which came relatively late, and was a product of diffusion. With these two hypotheses as our only reference points, we are limited in our knowledge of metallurgy as well as its role in the lives of African people. Anthropologists often find themselves in the predicament of being presented with a small number of precedent theories, which shape and direct further studies.