Imagine being born into a world of hopelessness. No dreams of becoming greater tomorrow. Waking up in the same routine everyday asking yourself is this how life really is supposed to be? I couldn 't fathom being without the capability of aspiring to become great and achieving the knowledge that I 'm capable of. I would be hopeless. That 's how I feel and look at slavery. A world of hopelessness. I understand that it happened and that it was there. But I could never quite understand why. Why was slavery and race an issue? Or perhaps why did it last so long and become so violent? Being African American sometimes I look as if we have a gift and a curse. The times have changed indeed but to some the mentality hasn 't, meaning a lot of us are ignorant and ill-informed both black and white. When I was younger I have asked myself. Do white people even accept me? Am I looked at differently? Of course I look at it emotionally because the world I know some of my closest friends are white and I am accepted by my peers but before my time, things were very different. So overtime I 've accumulated the knowledge that the norm back then was just hard and unbreakable. Many educated people have learned a few things about the significance of African American history, but some of the most important things remain untold, which certainly will take more than a month to understand. It’s hard to depict a picture of the mass untold stories on paper because the root of slavery is almost frightening. To learn that Africans began slavery by selling other Africans to European travelers is disturbing. To learn of what it became is chilling. What they did not know is that it would start a whole different idea of the term “slavery” and an entire new evolution of ethnicity, culture, and demeanor. During the fifteenth-century, explorers from Portugal became the first modern Europeans to reach Africa by sea, they discovered that slave trading was well established, as it was back in Portugal.
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The opening of a direct sea route immediately changed things for the worse, however. Once the Portuguese began trading guns for African captives of war, the slave trade became a malicious trap. If an African king refused to raid for slaves, the traders would cut off his gun supplies, making his own people defenseless against the raids of others. This system became the body for the start of a lucrative business that would remain for years to come. African slaves were, in fact well respected by other Africans than by the Europeans. Many African slaves were well clever and multi talented and just were captured in African war. African slavery was not based on race. Only in the Western Hemisphere did race become the mark of slavery: slavery heaviest chain was the color of their skin. African American history plays an important role in American history not only because slaves practically built America, but also because of the strength and courage of African Americans struggling to live a good life in America. African Americans have been present in this country since the early 1600’s, and have been making history since. Around early 16th century, 20 Africans accompanied the Europeans who landed in Jamestown, Virginia. These people were not slaves but servants. When they completed their contracts they were free to enjoy the freedoms and opportunities of the other settlers. At this time, all races were equal. A black European man named Anthony Tucker was the first black settler in the original thirteen colonies. He shared with the other settlers the common right of freedom. Other black servants would eventually become free and import slaves from Europe and they to also had white slaves. They would be business owners for which in the original colonies they could obtain up to 300 acres from the settler government. By the middle of the 16th century there were about 300 or more Africans, most of them indentured servants, in the American colonies. It is very unsure when the first actual African slaves arrived on American shores. But from the 1640s Africans were gradually considered as chattel or personal possessions. In 1641 Massachusetts became the first state to make slavery legal, and the foundation gradually spread among
The opening of a direct sea route immediately changed things for the worse, however. Once the Portuguese began trading guns for African captives of war, the slave trade became a malicious trap. If an African king refused to raid for slaves, the traders would cut off his gun supplies, making his own people defenseless against the raids of others. This system became the body for the start of a lucrative business that would remain for years to come. African slaves were, in fact well respected by other Africans than by the Europeans. Many African slaves were well clever and multi talented and just were captured in African war. African slavery was not based on race. Only in the Western Hemisphere did race become the mark of slavery: slavery heaviest chain was the color of their skin. African American history plays an important role in American history not only because slaves practically built America, but also because of the strength and courage of African Americans struggling to live a good life in America. African Americans have been present in this country since the early 1600’s, and have been making history since. Around early 16th century, 20 Africans accompanied the Europeans who landed in Jamestown, Virginia. These people were not slaves but servants. When they completed their contracts they were free to enjoy the freedoms and opportunities of the other settlers. At this time, all races were equal. A black European man named Anthony Tucker was the first black settler in the original thirteen colonies. He shared with the other settlers the common right of freedom. Other black servants would eventually become free and import slaves from Europe and they to also had white slaves. They would be business owners for which in the original colonies they could obtain up to 300 acres from the settler government. By the middle of the 16th century there were about 300 or more Africans, most of them indentured servants, in the American colonies. It is very unsure when the first actual African slaves arrived on American shores. But from the 1640s Africans were gradually considered as chattel or personal possessions. In 1641 Massachusetts became the first state to make slavery legal, and the foundation gradually spread among