The Plight of The African Slave Essay - 1558 Words

Introduction Slavery was one of the darkest periods in African American history. Africans were taken from their homes in West Africa and brought to America to work on plantations. However, slavery was not something new as it existed in Africa before Europeans partook in it, but slavery in Africa was very different from slavery in America. During their voyage through the Middle Passage many slaves perished. Those who survived were sold and subjected to the harsh life on the plantations. When this happened, their authentic cultures were drastically changed from the way of life in their native homelands in Africa to life in the plantation society of the American colonies. In this essay, I will attempt to show how the enslaved Africans’†¦show more content†¦(direct quote-douglass) Some slave owners began to have relations with relations with slave women that resulted mixed or mulatto children and they too were sometimes added to the workforce. In his novel, â€Å"Clotel; or the President’s Daughter,† William Wells Brown observed that â€Å"With the growing population of slaves in the Southern States of America, there is a fearful increase of half whites, most of whose fathers are slave owners, and their mothers slaves† (325). Political System Kings and queens had the authority in many villages such as in Venture’s. Often times there were more than one person in charge of the government. As in the case in Oludah Equiano’s homeland, there were no kings but chief and elders who ran the government of his village. According to Equiano, â€Å"for every transaction of the government, as far as my slender observation extended was conducted by the chief or elders of the place† (191). The political system also was consisted of judges and senators in addition to the chiefs and elders. Surprisingly there were no jails and the punishment depended on the crime committed. For example, according to Equaino, â€Å"Adultery was sometimes punished with slavery or death†¦.† (191). In America, the enslaved people had no political or judicial systems. They went from being kings and chiefs to merely commoners under enslavement. They were two classes ofShow MoreRelatedPlight of African Americans720 Words   |  3 PagesAfrican Americans Plight Throughout U.S. History Published by Shirley H. Sanders Read MoreRace Relations Between African Americans and Whites Following Reconstruction761 Words   |  4 Pagesspecifically between whites and newly-freed African Americans. Legally, dramatic changes had been made at the federal level, providing African Americans with a host of rights that had never been offered them before. It was no wonder, then, that former slave owners in the South rejected these changes and rights, taking whatever steps necessary to keep African Americans down. 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