Historical Report on Race Eth/125
Historical Report on Race
Jim, it was great to hear from you after so many years of us not getting in touch with each other. You mentioned in your last letter that you were writing a research paper on the African American history in the United States, and you were hoping I could share some of my experiences and knowledge of my race for your paper. I would love to offer my insight to you for your research.
You may be surprised to find out that the first Africans came to North America a full year before the Mayflower ever landed at Plymouth Rock. The first slave cargo arrived in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1619 with Africans that forced to aid in the production process of tobacco (History, 2013). Slavery grew over the next two hundred years and by the early 1800s Northern states were no longer considered slavery states. The Southern states continued their practice of slavery and this division of North and South is a major reason for the emergence of the American Civil War that began in 1861. At the end of the Civil War in 1865 all slaves were considered free U.S. citizens with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the addition of the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery in the United States. The African American population thinking that they were free and equal later realized that the white majority did not view them in this manner (Smithsonian National Museum of American History, 2013). In the early 1900s Jim Crow laws would bring about segregation and prohibit Blacks from attending the same schools as whites, and even go as far as dictating what water fountains and bathrooms each race had to use. A Civil Rights movement came about and granted all African American’s the same rights as any other person in the United States. To this day though I am sure you are aware that there is discrimination and even racial profiling that still exists against the African American population..
For a majority of the time the United States has been a country,
Jim, it was great to hear from you after so many years of us not getting in touch with each other. You mentioned in your last letter that you were writing a research paper on the African American history in the United States, and you were hoping I could share some of my experiences and knowledge of my race for your paper. I would love to offer my insight to you for your research.
You may be surprised to find out that the first Africans came to North America a full year before the Mayflower ever landed at Plymouth Rock. The first slave cargo arrived in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1619 with Africans that forced to aid in the production process of tobacco (History, 2013). Slavery grew over the next two hundred years and by the early 1800s Northern states were no longer considered slavery states. The Southern states continued their practice of slavery and this division of North and South is a major reason for the emergence of the American Civil War that began in 1861. At the end of the Civil War in 1865 all slaves were considered free U.S. citizens with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the addition of the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery in the United States. The African American population thinking that they were free and equal later realized that the white majority did not view them in this manner (Smithsonian National Museum of American History, 2013). In the early 1900s Jim Crow laws would bring about segregation and prohibit Blacks from attending the same schools as whites, and even go as far as dictating what water fountains and bathrooms each race had to use. A Civil Rights movement came about and granted all African American’s the same rights as any other person in the United States. To this day though I am sure you are aware that there is discrimination and even racial profiling that still exists against the African American population..
For a majority of the time the United States has been a country,