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How slavery affected american history
Historiography of slavery
Role of historians
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"Only when lions have historians will hunters cease to be heroes” In 1831 Senator William Marcy of New York coined the phrase: “To the victor belong the spoils.” Even though, Marcy was referring to the election of Andrew Jackson and the subsequent upheaval following the inauguration fiasco where nearly ten percent of Federal offices were replaced with cronies of Jackson parallels and epitomizes the African proverb, “Only when lions have historians will hunters cease to be heroes.” Unfortunately, every war fought has a winner and a loser—the winner writes the history books while everything is done to squelch the history and culture of the defeated as the winner compels a new way of life upon the defeated peoples; many times contrary to that of the conquered peoples. Historians are often plagued with the task of unraveling oral histories that have been embellished upon for many centuries should no written history or tales be found. Throughout recorded history first impressions have often misaligned the people first encountered. For example: in the account of Álvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca wrote in 1542 of his findings of the natives in present day coastal Texas and the deplorable conditions in which they lived. Or the discoveries of Captain John Smith of Jamestown, Virginia fame in the 1600s his first impression of the natives were that they were uneducated savages and heathens; but Chief Powhatan daughter had to rescue the fort from starvation (not so uneducated, yes?). What impression would settlers from another planet was to land near Detroit, Michigan and approached the city from the slum side? Would those daring adventures make the same erroneous report about the rest of the continent of North America? The exploiters of early Af... ... middle of paper ... ... Americas could have repelled the invaders in the years succeeding the discovery by Columbus; just as the Africans could have repelled the Europeans from their continent. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. After reading many of the adventures written by H. Rider Haggard and his intrepid explorer and hunter, the questionably honorable Allan Quartermain; one gets the skewed vision of the native African while at the same time viewing the ‘pseudo’ superiority of the European exploiter. Quartermain gives the impression that he respects the Africans in his employ while considering them to be naught but children needing guidance; a typical British and American view of anyone different than themselves. In the perusal of the assigned reading for this unit one’s eyes are opened to a wider worldview and understanding of the phrase by Marcy, “To the victor belongs the spoils.”
As a primary source, Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Narrative provides partial insights on 18th century New World slavery. Equiano recounts the horrors of being kidnapped and traveling through the middle passage. In Montserrat, Equiano hears about the plantations and how slaves were physically and mentally abused. Slaves were taken advantage of and lived in fear since the law was not on their side. Even free slaves worried that their freedom would be taken from them and they would be forced back into slavery. As a source, there are some limitations since Equiano was an atypical slave who purchased his freedom and was a sailor. However, his experiences and the experiences of others are still valuable when examining slavery.
Native Americans have always been interpreted as “savage beast”. We are told the stories of the Europeans coming to America and their encounter with the Native by teachers, movies, and history books. When looking at the art of people “interpreting” the Native American the idea is still quite similar. Horatio Greenough work, Rescue, shows the common idea seen by most.
There are many myths about the American Civil War fought from 1861-1865. One such myth is that the south was forced into action by the tyranny of the north, specifically that of newly elected President Abraham Lincoln. Another was that the war was not about slavery in any way, shape or form; rather, it was a war over a state’s right to govern itself without interference from the federal government. But no other myth has permeated through the decades more than the myth of the Lost Cause, which presupposes the inevitability of defeat to the Union army. The term was first coined by journalist Edward Pollard in his 1866 book entitled “The Lost Cause” (Civil War: A Visual History). There are people today who will still argue that those men who fought for the confederacy were fighting an invading Yankee horde and were destined to lose. The north had high tariffs and an unwanted economic d...
Mary Rowlandson’s “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” and Benjamin Franklin’s “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” are two different perspectives based on unique experiences the narrators had with “savages.” Benjamin Franklin’s “Remarks Concerning the Savages…” is a comparison between the ways of the Indians and the ways of the Englishmen along with Franklin’s reason why the Indians should not be defined as savages. “A Narrative of the Captivity…” is a written test of faith about a brutally traumatic experience that a woman faced alone while being held captive by Indians. Mary Rowlandson views the Indians in a negative light due to the traumatizing and inhumane experiences she went through namely, their actions and the way in which they lived went against the religious code to which she is used; contrastingly, Benjamin Franklin sees the Indians as everything but savages-- he believes that they are perfect due to their educated ways and virtuous conduct.
Hine, Darlene C., Hine, William C., Harrold, Stanley: The African-American Odyssey Volume Two: Since 1865. Second Edition. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. 2003.
In the first four chapters, he explains the currents in modern African-America thought. In chapter one he tells us stories of victimology. The second chap...
We should take careful notice of how Turner describes the role of native tribes in American history. The reason for this is that it proves to be very insightful into the kind of historical narrative that Turner presents to describe the ‘real reasons’ for why American’s expanded into the Western frontiers.
Kenneth W. Porter has devoted his life to researching the truths about African-Americans in the West. He chronicles his findings in his book, The Negro on the American Frontier. Porter proves that the role of the black man during the settling of the of the land west of the Mississippi River that stretched from the Rio Grande to the Canadian border was crucial not only to the cattle industry, but to the entire country. In his findings, Porter reveals that the West was one of America's first non-segreg...
In the first segment of his film series, Different but Equal, Basil Davidson sets out to disprove the fictitious and degrading assumptions about African civilization made by various Western scholars and explorers. Whether it is the notion that Africans are “savage and crude in nature” or the presumed inability of Africans to advance technologically, these stereotypes are damaging to the image and history of Africa. Although European Renaissance art depicts the races of white and black in equal dignity, there was a drastic shift of European attitudes toward Africa that placed Africans in a much lower standing than people of any other culture. The continent of Africa quickly became ravished by the inhuman slave trade and any traditional civilization
In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were
...et the wrongs they’ve suffered, even if these tribulations were justified. But mostly forgetting history poses a serious threat to the future. Sometimes we do need to know where we’ve been in order to know where we’re going. However, remembering is also a sticky subject. Debates erupt about which history is correct, and which should be remembered. It’s also a matter of enthusiasm as much as anything else. Remembering the Civil War as many Northerners and Southerners remember the war, as a war that happened, had certain ramifications, and otherwise doesn’t affect contemporary life, is much easier to justify and deal with than a zealous attitude toward a "Lost Cause." It is just that great enthusiasm leads to reverence for ancestors that do not necessarily deserve it. Still, it is not as if any individual can decide for another which ancestors are worth revering.
...heir superiority. Achebe embraces the beauty of humanity while simultaneously addressing its flaws. With his ability to contemplate conflicting perspectives, Achebe illustrates the benefits of cultural relativity. Achebe does not target religion or even the colonizers; he addresses people universally, encouraging global consideration and individual reflection. To accentuate the forcefulness of the colonizers, Achebe contrasts it with his own temperateness—he portrays his characters without generalization, he presents his opinions with a carefully restrained perspective, and remains calm in his writing, never resorting to hatred. Instead of passively resenting his village’s colonization, Achebe productively channels his specified anger into global compassion, showing his readers the value in considering different cultures with objective and thoughtful rationality.
Ralph Ellison’s short story, Battle Royal, is mainly a description of the African American struggle for equality and identity. The narrator of the story is an above average youth of the African American community [Goldstein-Shirlet, 1999]. He is given an opportunity to give a speech to some of the more prestigious white individuals. His expectations of being received in a positive and normal environment are drastically dashed when he is faced with the severity of the process he must deal with in order to accomplish his task. The continuing theme of Battle Royal is that of a struggle for one’s rights against great odds. Instances of this struggle are found throughout the story. Ellison highlights the vastness of the problems faced by the African American community to claim themselves. This is done by the extreme nature of the incidents described in the Battle Royal. A short analysis of the major theme found in Ellison’s Battle Royal, supported by a literary criticism dealing with the tone and style of the story.
In order to fully understand why revising history to suit the victor’s one must look at the accounts of those defeated (if they happen to survive the revision). In looking at the issues surrounding slavery we can compare a few accounts from escaped and free slaves to that of a couple prominent southern whites who attempted to justify and support slavery. The accounts of the slaves are graphic and at times disturbing but help to paint a clearer picture of the historic events at the time.
To show how stories can affect colonialism, we will be looking at British authors during the time of colonialism. During this period of British colonialism, writers like Joyce Cary, author of “Mister Johnson” wrote novels about Africa and more specifically, a Nigerian named Johnson. Johnson in this novel is represented as “[an] infuriating principal character”. In Mr. Cary’s novel he demeans the people of Africa with hatred and mockery, even describing them as “unhuman, like twisted bags of lard, or burst bladders”. Even though Cary’s novel displayed large amounts of racism and bigotry, it received even larger amounts of praise, even from Time Magazine in October 20, 1952. The ability to write a hateful novel and still receive praise for it is what Chinua Achebe likes to describe as “absolute power over narrative [and...