Life of an African American
The Life of an African-American I am currently a sixty year old African American living in Southern Alabama. Throughout my life, I have experienced more hardships and seen more suffering than any man should ever live through. Growing up in the South during the 1830’s, I would have never imagined the opportunities that I have now, compared to my mother and father’s time. My mother and father came from West Africa as slaves and worked endlessly on a tobacco plantation in Virginia. I remember when I was a boy my father told me that when he was a child, slavery was becoming unpopular and soon enough, it would be gone. However, when the cotton gin was invented in 1793, all hope was gone as the demand in labor for cotton skyrocketed. It took till 1865, but I still remember that day when I heard the news that the Civil War was over. Now for the first time, blacks were seen as real live people. Since then, we have been fighting for our rights throughout the Civil Rights Movement. It is currently 1896 and we are still fighting for our liberation. I am told by many activists including W.E.B DuBois and Booker T. Washington that the day will come when we are accepted by society, but until then we must be patient and not damage our integrity.
By 1860, more than a third of the population of the south was made up of slaves. We worked on cotton and tobacco plantations. I lived in a simple one room log cabin where there was one door and one window. My daily routine would start with the sound of a horn or bell when I would be assigned of removing weeds and transporting water to other workers. This long day with the ultimate goal of survival, ended well after sunset. What hurt the most was that our lives were so insignificant. I was weak and powerless. My owner could do and say whatever he wanted as if I was an animal rather than a human being. If I did not obey him or if I did an inadequate job, I would be punished very badly. Despite these harsh conditions, we formed families
By 1860, more than a third of the population of the south was made up of slaves. We worked on cotton and tobacco plantations. I lived in a simple one room log cabin where there was one door and one window. My daily routine would start with the sound of a horn or bell when I would be assigned of removing weeds and transporting water to other workers. This long day with the ultimate goal of survival, ended well after sunset. What hurt the most was that our lives were so insignificant. I was weak and powerless. My owner could do and say whatever he wanted as if I was an animal rather than a human being. If I did not obey him or if I did an inadequate job, I would be punished very badly. Despite these harsh conditions, we formed families
Bibliography: Beaver, Erin , Melissa Reily, and Neil Snyer. "Blacks in the Civil War." Accessed April 28, 2012. http://www2.coloradocollege.edu/Dept/HY/Hy243Ruiz/Research/civilwar.html. Cozzens , Lisa . "Plessy v. Ferguson." Last modified September,17,1999. Accessed April 28, 2012. http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/post-civilwar/plessy.html. PBS, "Dred Scott 's fight for freedom." Accessed April 28, 2012. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2932.html. PBS, "Harriet Tubman." Accessed April 28, 2012. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1535.html. -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Erin Beaver, Melissa Reily, Neil Snyer, “Blacks in the Civil War”, http://www2.coloradocollege.edu/Dept/HY/Hy243Ruiz/Research/civilwar.html. [ 2 ]. GHIST 225 Lecture [ 3 ]. PBS Online, “Harriet Tubman”, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1535.html. [ 4 ]. PBS Online, “Dred Scott’s fight for freedom”, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2932.html. [ 5 ]. Lisa Cozzens. “Plessy v Ferguson.” http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/post-civilwar/plessy.html