CE - The African Experience (Lesson)

The African Experience

Forced from their homes. Suffered a perilous journey. Faced brutality, fear, and death. Stripped of their cultural ties. Blended their heritages. Endured. Started anew. Strengthened a nation.

The Middle Passage

During the colonial era, approximately 250,000 Africans were imported to the colonies. The portion of the trans-Atlantic trade that carried Africans to the Caribbean and North America was called the Middle Passage. First, British ships loaded with rum, cloth, and other English goods sailed to Africa, where they were traded for Africans originally enslaved by other Africans. Then, in the Middle Passage, the slaves would be transported to the New World. The crew would buy tobacco and other American goods from profits they made by selling the slaves in the colonies and ship the tobacco and goods back to Britain. This process was repeated for decades., and indigo were acquired from the North American colonies and England used these resources to trade throughout Europe, Africa, and even back to the North American colonies.

Africans were brought over on crowded and unsanitary ships for the dangerous voyage. Hundreds of slaves were packed in as cargo on ships. Disease spread quickly within the ship. Slaves were treated horribly. The combined treatment, fear, and other dangers of the journey caused some to even commit suicide. The ships smelled of decaying bodies as well as the sweat, blood, urine, and feces of the surviving slaves. It was said that people in the colonial port cities could smell the slave ships arriving before they could see them. About two of every ten slaves died during the passage. 

 

African Contributions

Those individuals brought from Africa were from a variety of cultures. In order to control the slaves more, the cultural identity they once knew was often disallowed, or discouraged, by slave owners. With the plantation system, slaves from a variety of backgrounds were able to blend cultures while also creating new cultural traditions of the African experience. African cultures blended not only within themselves, but also with European cultures. Food, languages, and other traditions began to meld together and form a new heritage. 

One such example can be found in the architectural creation of what is known as the “shotgun” house. This style has been found along the Southeast coast, coastal towns in Haiti, and to areas among West Africa. The unique plan differs from European architectural styles, but was adapted to these areas using materials more common to the European style.

Propaganda and the Abolitionist Movement

Look up the following terms:

• propaganda
• abolitionist

It is often stated that images such as the diagram of a slave ship below could be used as propaganda for abolitionists. Looking at the image, what are some things that stand out to you? What benefit could there be from publishing these images for the general public?

 

IMAGE SLAVE SHIP MODEL  COURTESY OF THE SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY

IMAGE: A TYPICAL SHOTGUN FLOOR PLAN. COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS.

IMAGE- DIAGRAM OF SLAVE SHIP, COURTESY OF LILLY LIBRARY OF RARE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS, INDIANA UNIVERSITY VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS