African-American Changes

640 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Colonial era slavery

After Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, the race to colonize began. The initial rulers of America, Native Americans, would be taken over by immigrants from Spain and England in the hopes of gaining power and wealth. By the 1600s, a popular business began to arise among landowners; slavery. With the hope of one day being free, millions of Africans poured into America to work in the fields. The life of an African-American would change over the course of the 17th century because of new laws created that striped them of their human rights. By the 1620s, Tobacco emerged as America’s first cash crop (Jones lecture). Many settlers saw this as an opportunity to obtain financial success; all they needed was land and labor. This sudden …show more content…

However, during the next 30 years things changed significantly. Unlike indentured servants, African-American slaves were not given freedom dues at the end of their service, and were trapped into bondage (Textbook 97). In addition, the white population began to rally against African-Americans and established many new laws. Because Virginia went from a population of all white, to majority black slaves, these new laws were aimed at restricting the freedoms of African-Americans (Jones lecture). Lawmakers did not view African-Americans as common people, but as …show more content…

Not only were they seeking freedom from bondage but to be treated as equal individuals. However, additional laws were put into place attempting to prevent runaway slave groups (Virginia Race Laws). Act XVI in April 1691 banned marriage between negro/mulattoes/Indians and English. Furthermore, women who had a child with a negro/mulatto man had to pay 15 pounds within 1 month of birth to the church, become a slave for the church and sold after 5 years, and give up her child to become a slave until age 30 (Virginia Race Laws). These additional laws started to show racial hate. The white community wanted to prevent the African-American population from increasing, as they were only good enough to work in the Tobacco

Show More
Related

  • Looking out for number one

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Early Virginia's flourishing cultivation of tobacco drew a diversity of people, from fresh war veterans and former soldiers, to adventurers and ordinary people looking to recoup from former monetary losses. However the tobacco did not only alter the country culturally and economically, but it “ threw more wood into the fire.” It strengthened the infamous individualistic attitude the colonists had. The advent...

    Read More

  • African American´s Limitations from 1865-1900s

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    The population of African Americans from 1865 to 1900 had limited social freedom. Social limitations are limitations that relate “…to society and the way people interact with each other,” as defined by the lesson. One example of a social limitation African Americans experienced at the time is the white supremacy terrorist group, the Ku Klux Klan or the KKK. The KKK started as a social club formed by former confederate soldiers, which rapidly became a domestic terrorist organization. The KKK members were white supremacists who’s objective was to ward off African Americans from using their new political power. In an attempts to achieve their objective, Klansmen would burn African American schools, scare and threaten voters, destroy the homes of African Americans and also the homes of whites who supported African American rights. The greatest terror the KKK imposed was that of lynching. Lynching may be defined via the lesson as, “…public hanging for an alleged offense without benefit of trial.” As one can imagine these tactics struck fear into African Americans and the KKK was achiev...

    Read More

  • A Look at the Past: Colonial South Carolina

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    The proprietors of the colony had hoped to grow profitable export crops of tobacco, cotton, indigo, and olives at first but all attempts to produce these crops were unsuccessful (Roark). Then in the...

    Read More

  • Smoking Hazards: Tobacco Cultivation In Colonial America

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tobacco was a main crop in colonial America that helped stabilize the economy (Cotton 1). Despite the fact that tobacco took the place of the other crops in Virginia, as well as replacing the hunt for gold with tobacco cultivation. It proved to be a major cash crop, especially in Virginia and Maryland (Weeks 3). Tobacco left many people financially troubled because other occupations were disregarded or not as profitable as tobacco farmers (Randel 128). The unemployment that tobacco brought about made many colonists poor and homeless (128). After the tobacco boom started, many men signed themselves to indentured servitude hoping to be freed and given land along with other promised goods (Tunis 79). Three hundred and fifty thousand African slaves were also imported to labor on large tobacco plantations in the South (Weeks 1). The tobacco industry had a profound effect on colonial America, socially and economically.

    Read More

  • Tobacco Cultivation In The 18th Century Essay

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tobacco cultivation: Tobacco was a poor man’s crop, it could be planted easily, it produced commercially marketable leaves within a year, and it required only simple processing.

    Read More

  • Slave Colonies of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tobacco production in the Chesapeake was growing due to an enormous demand for the product in England. The demand for tobacco in England had grown during the eighteenth century over ten times what it had been originally. With so mu...

    Read More

  • 18th Century Republicanism: Struggles for Equality and Rights

    683 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many White laborers resented having to compete against slaves. These standards and combined with other acknowledgement of slavery lead to the establishment of antislavery societies. Many North states started becoming lenient toward Africans and enslaved individuals, states such as Vermont and Pennsylvania emancipated slavery during the late 1700’s as they saw it as unconstitutional. Although blacks became free, many faced systematic discrimination such as being excluded from voting, juries, militia duties, and being revoked rights of full citizenship. This later created segregation and denied black access to a quality education.

    Read More

  • the development of slavery in America

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery was the main resource used in the Chesapeake tobacco plantations. The conditions in the Chesapeake region were difficult, which lead to malnutrition, disease, and even death. Slaves were a cheap and an abundant resource, which could be easily replaced at any time. The Chesapeake region’s tobacco industries grew and flourished on the intolerable and inhumane acts of slavery.

    Read More

  • Lasting African Conributions to American Society

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    This country, especially the southern United States, was built using African slave labor. Africa slaves were not allowed to be educated. All most every African slave could not read or write because it was against the law to educate slaves for over 200 years. The master/slave relationship caused assimilation to be very difficult. Values and convictions were formed during those years and are still evident to this day (Parrillo, 2009).

    Read More

  • Essay On Indentured Servitude

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    There were laws in place to protect the rights of the indentured servants. Initially, in 1619, when the first black Africans came to Virginia, there were no slave laws in place. They were treated similarly to indentured servants. They were given the same opportunities for “freedom dues” as whites.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Tobacco Cigarettes

    1282 Words  | 3 Pages

    Long before Christopher Columbus landed in America(1492), Native Americans grew and practiced tobacco themselves by rolling

    Read More

  • History of African Americans in the U.S.

    456 Words  | 1 Pages

    History shows that slavery consisted of African Americans being treated inferior to whites. Slaves were mostly African Americans and even though today slavery is over people still look at blacks as less important than whites. Slavery has impacted our society today because people are still prejudice and discriminatory towards African Americans, they are still living in poverty and don’t have proper education and they don’t have an equal opportunity for jobs. Still today African Americans continue to lag behind whites.

    Read More

  • Discrimination In The Workplace Essay

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although African Americans were finally able to gain back their freedom; they did not gain equality in the eyes of their former oppressors. Resentful of the newfound freedom of African Americans, laws known as Jim Crow laws were established throughout the United Stated by states and local governments. These discriminatory laws worked to systematically oppress African Americans through segregation and violence. They were segregated from whites; forbidden to attend the same schools, eat in the same restaurants or intermarry. African Americans were treated as second class citizens; lesser beings that had no rights. “Blacks could not vote, sue whites, testify against them, raise their voice to them or even look them in the eye or stay on the sidewalk if they passed.” (BL p.98) The era of Jim Crow was a dangerous time where even a glance was enough for an African American to be murdered. But there was only so much abuse that would be withstood. The winds of change were beginning to stir and African Americans and their supporters were beginning to demand their equality.

    Read More

  • African American & Societys Influence

    2064 Words  | 5 Pages

    In addition, another response to the growing concern of youth delinquency was with the establishment of the first juvenile court system created in Cook County, Chicago. This act was unique, since it attempted to reduce the stigma of juvenile crime and create a new approach for the process of offenders. They philosophized that children were not to be treated as criminals but in need of encouragement.

    Read More

  • Tobacco and Western Culture

    435 Words  | 1 Pages

    It didn't take long before early traders began to realize the economic benefits of trading tobacco as a primary cash crop. Its known influences were completely overlooked to maintain the desired income and trade benefits. In western culture, early settlers, saw tobacco as a primary source of support for the family. It was entirely possible to grow tobacco and live a very good lifestyle. During the early years, tobacco was not seen as a bad thing. Instead, it was actually a way of life. As time passed, govermental agencies also began to see the economic benefits produced by the tobacco industry. Taxing the crop became very lucrative and later resulted in subsidizing the farmers as needed to maintain taxation levels. The advent of production cigarrettes soon opened doors for manufacturers which hadn't existed before. A

    Read More

More about African-American Changes

Open Document