African American
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African-American history is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. Most African Americans are the descendants of captive Africans held in the United States from 1619 to 1865. It is these peoples, who in the past were referred to and self-identified collectively as the American Negro, who now generally consider themselves African Americans. Their history is celebrated and highlighted annually in the United States during February, designated as Black History Month, and it is their history that is the focus of this article. The first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. combined with the still ambiguous nature of the social status of Blacks and the difficulty in using any other group of people as forced servants, led to the relegation of Blacks into slavery. Africans first arrived in 1619, when a Dutch ship sold 19 blacks as indentured servants (not slaves) to Englishmen at Point Comfort (today's Fort Monroe), thirty miles downstream from Jamestown, Virginia. At first the Africans in the South were outnumbered by white indentured servants, who came voluntarily from Britain. They avoided the plantations. With the vast amount of good land and the shortage of laborers, plantation owners turned to lifetime slaves who worked for their keep but were not paid wages and could not easily escape. Slaves had some legal rights (it was a crime to kill a slave, and a few whites were hanged for it.) A few had come from Africa but most came from the West Indies (especially Trinidad, later Trinidad and Tobago), or, increasingly, were native born. Their legal status was now clear: they were slaves for life and so were the children of slave mothers. They could be sold, or freed, and a few ran away. The later half of the 18th century was a time of political upheaval in the United States. In the midst of cries for relief from British rule, several people pointed out the apparent hypocrisies of slave holders' demanding freedom. The Declaration of Independence, a document that would become a manifesto for human rights and personal freedom, was written by Thomas Jefferson, who owned over 200 slaves. As the United States grew, the institution of slavery became more entrenched in the southern states, while northern states began to abolish it. Over 1 million slaves were moved from the older seaboard slave states, with their declining economies to the rich cotton states of the southwest; many others were sold and moved locally. While the majority of free blacks lived in poverty, some were able to establish successful businesses that catered to the Black community. Racial discrimination often meant that Blacks were not welcome or would be mistreated in White businesses and other establishments. To counter this, Blacks developed their own communities with Black-owned businesses. Black doctors, lawyers and other businessmen were the foundation of the Black middle class.[20] The Black community also established schools for Black children, since they were often barred from entering public schools.
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In 1863, during the American Civil War (1861–1865), President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the southern states at war with the North. After the Union victory over the Confederacy, a brief period of southern black progress, called Reconstruction, followed. From 1865 to 1877, under protection of Union troops, some strides were made toward equal rights for African-Americans. Southern black men began to vote and were elected to the United States Congress and to local offices such as sheriff. Coalitions of white and black Republicans passed bills to establish the first public school systems in most states of the South, although sufficient funding was hard to find. The U.S. armed forces remained segregated during World War I. Still, many African Americans eagerly volunteered to join the Allied cause following America's entry into the war. Most African American units were relegated to support roles and did not see combat. Still, African Americans played a minor role in America's war effort. The Second Great Migration was the migration of more than 5 million African Americans from the South to the other three regions of the United States. It took place place from 1941, through World War II, and lasted until 1970.[50] It was much larger and of a different character than the first Great Migration (1910–1940).
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African American
African Americans[3] (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and
formerly as American Negroes) are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa
African Americans make up the single largest racial minority in the United States.[6] African-American history starts in the 16th century with African slaves who quickly
rose up against the Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón and progresses to the present day, withBarack Obama as the 44th and current President of the United States. Between those landmarks have been many other events and issues, both resolved and ongoing, including slavery, reconstruction, development of the AfricanAmerican community, participation in the great military conflicts of the United States, racial segregation, and the Civil Rights Movement.
The first African slaves arrived in the present-day United States as part of the San
Miguel de Gualdapecolony (most likely located in the Winyah Bay area of presentday South Carolina), founded by Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón in 1526.
In 1565, the colony of Saint Augustine in Florida, founded by Pedro Menendez de
Aviles, became the first permanent European settlement in North America.
As English settlers died from harsh conditions, more and more Africans were brought
to work as laborers.
The popular conception of a race-based slave system did not fully develop until the
18th century.
All the colony's slaves, however, were freed upon its surrender to the British.
[10]
Massachusetts was the first British colony to legally recognize slavery in 1641. It was not until 1662 that Virginia ruled that a slave mother's children would remain slaves.
In 1863, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed
the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation declared that all slaves in states which had seceded from the Union were free
African Americans quickly set up congregations for themselves, as well as schools,
community and civic associations, to have space away from white control or oversight. While the post-warreconstruction era was initially a time of progress for African Americans, in the late 1890s, Southern states enacted Jim Crow laws to enforce racial segregation and disenfranchisement.
The desperate conditions of African Americans in the South that sparked the Great
Migration of the early 20th century,[22] combined with a growing African American community in the Northern United States, led to a movement to fight violence and discriminationagainst African Americans that, like abolitionism before it, crossed racial lines.
Politically and economically, blacks have made substantial strides during the postcivil rights era.
due in part to the legacy of slavery, racism and discrimination, African Americans as a
group remain at a pronounced economic, educational and social disadvantage in many areas relative to European Americans. Persistent social, economic and political issues for many African Americans include inadequate health care access and delivery; institutional racism and discrimination in housing, education, policing, criminal justice and employment; crime, poverty and substance abuse
Historically, African Americans were supporters of the Republican Party because it
was Republican President Abraham Lincoln who helped in granting freedom to American slaves; at the time, the Republicans and Democrats represented the sectional interests of the North and South, respectively, rather than any specific ideology, and both right and left were represented equally in both parties.
From their earliest presence in North America, African Americans have contributed
literature, art, agricultural skills, foods, clothing styles, music, language, social and technological innovation to American culture.
African American music is one of the most pervasive African American cultural
influences in the United States today and is among the most dominant in mainstream popular music.
African Americans have also had an important role in American dance.
Many African American authors have written stories, poems, and essays influenced
by their experiences as African Americans. African-American literature is a major genre in American literature. Famous examples include Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Richard Wright,Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou.
African Americans have fought in every war in the history of the United States.[148] The gains made by African Americans in the Civil Rights and Black Power
movements not only obtained certain rights for African Americans, but changed American society in far-reaching and fundamentally important ways. Prior to the 1950s, Black Americans in the South were subject to de jure discrimination, or Jim Crow.
The term African American carries important political overtones. Earlier terms used to
identify Americans of African ancestry were conferred upon the group by colonists and Americans of European ancestry. The terms were included in the wording of various laws and legal decisions which some thought were being used as tools of white supremacy and oppression.[150] There developed among blacks in America a growing desire for a term of self-identification of their own choosing.
For many, African American is more than a name expressive
of cultural and historical roots. The term expresses pride in Africa and a sense of kinship and solidarity with others of the African diaspora—an embrace of panAfricanism as earlier enunciated by prominent African thinkers such as Marcus Garvey, W. E. B. Du Bois and George Padmore.
Who is African American?
Since 1977, in an attempt to keep up with changing social opinion, the United States
government officially classified black people (revised to black or African American in 1997) as "having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa."
Some historians consider ancient Africa the cradle of human civilization.
African-American history is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. Most African Americans are the descendants of captive Africans held in the United States from 1619 to 1865. It is these peoples, who in the past were referred to and self-identified collectively as the American Negro, who now generally consider themselves African Americans. Their history is celebrated and highlighted annually in the United States during February, designated as Black History Month, and it is their history that is the focus of this article. The first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. combined with the still ambiguous nature of the social status of Blacks and the difficulty in using any other group of people as forced servants, led to the relegation of Blacks into slavery. Africans first arrived in 1619, when a Dutch ship sold 19 blacks as indentured servants (not slaves) to Englishmen at Point Comfort (today's Fort Monroe), thirty miles downstream from Jamestown, Virginia. At first the Africans in the South were outnumbered by white indentured servants, who came voluntarily from Britain. They avoided the plantations. With the vast amount of good land and the shortage of laborers, plantation owners turned to lifetime slaves who worked for their keep but were not paid wages and could not easily escape. Slaves had some legal rights (it was a crime to kill a slave, and a few whites were hanged for it.) A few had come from Africa but most came from the West Indies (especially Trinidad, later Trinidad and Tobago), or, increasingly, were native born. Their legal status was now clear: they were slaves for life and so were the children of slave mothers. They could be sold, or freed, and a few ran away. The later half of the 18th century was a time of political upheaval in the United States. In the midst of cries for relief from British rule, several people pointed out the apparent hypocrisies of slave holders' demanding freedom. The Declaration of Independence, a document that would become a manifesto for human rights and personal freedom, was written by Thomas Jefferson, who owned over 200 slaves. As the United States grew, the institution of slavery became more entrenched in the southern states, while northern states began to abolish it. Over 1 million slaves were moved from the older seaboard slave states, with their declining economies to the rich cotton states of the southwest; many others were sold and moved locally. While the majority of free blacks lived in poverty, some were able to establish successful businesses that catered to the Black community. Racial discrimination often meant that Blacks were not welcome or would be mistreated in White businesses and other establishments. To counter this, Blacks developed their own communities with Black-owned businesses. Black doctors, lawyers and other businessmen were the foundation of the Black middle class.[20] The Black community also established schools for Black children, since they were often barred from entering public schools.
•
• •
•
•
•
•
• •
•
•
• •
In 1863, during the American Civil War (1861–1865), President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the southern states at war with the North. After the Union victory over the Confederacy, a brief period of southern black progress, called Reconstruction, followed. From 1865 to 1877, under protection of Union troops, some strides were made toward equal rights for African-Americans. Southern black men began to vote and were elected to the United States Congress and to local offices such as sheriff. Coalitions of white and black Republicans passed bills to establish the first public school systems in most states of the South, although sufficient funding was hard to find. The U.S. armed forces remained segregated during World War I. Still, many African Americans eagerly volunteered to join the Allied cause following America's entry into the war. Most African American units were relegated to support roles and did not see combat. Still, African Americans played a minor role in America's war effort. The Second Great Migration was the migration of more than 5 million African Americans from the South to the other three regions of the United States. It took place place from 1941, through World War II, and lasted until 1970.[50] It was much larger and of a different character than the first Great Migration (1910–1940).
• • •
African American
African Americans[3] (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and
formerly as American Negroes) are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa
African Americans make up the single largest racial minority in the United States.[6] African-American history starts in the 16th century with African slaves who quickly
rose up against the Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón and progresses to the present day, withBarack Obama as the 44th and current President of the United States. Between those landmarks have been many other events and issues, both resolved and ongoing, including slavery, reconstruction, development of the AfricanAmerican community, participation in the great military conflicts of the United States, racial segregation, and the Civil Rights Movement.
The first African slaves arrived in the present-day United States as part of the San
Miguel de Gualdapecolony (most likely located in the Winyah Bay area of presentday South Carolina), founded by Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón in 1526.
In 1565, the colony of Saint Augustine in Florida, founded by Pedro Menendez de
Aviles, became the first permanent European settlement in North America.
As English settlers died from harsh conditions, more and more Africans were brought
to work as laborers.
The popular conception of a race-based slave system did not fully develop until the
18th century.
All the colony's slaves, however, were freed upon its surrender to the British.
[10]
Massachusetts was the first British colony to legally recognize slavery in 1641. It was not until 1662 that Virginia ruled that a slave mother's children would remain slaves.
In 1863, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed
the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation declared that all slaves in states which had seceded from the Union were free
African Americans quickly set up congregations for themselves, as well as schools,
community and civic associations, to have space away from white control or oversight. While the post-warreconstruction era was initially a time of progress for African Americans, in the late 1890s, Southern states enacted Jim Crow laws to enforce racial segregation and disenfranchisement.
The desperate conditions of African Americans in the South that sparked the Great
Migration of the early 20th century,[22] combined with a growing African American community in the Northern United States, led to a movement to fight violence and discriminationagainst African Americans that, like abolitionism before it, crossed racial lines.
Politically and economically, blacks have made substantial strides during the postcivil rights era.
due in part to the legacy of slavery, racism and discrimination, African Americans as a
group remain at a pronounced economic, educational and social disadvantage in many areas relative to European Americans. Persistent social, economic and political issues for many African Americans include inadequate health care access and delivery; institutional racism and discrimination in housing, education, policing, criminal justice and employment; crime, poverty and substance abuse
Historically, African Americans were supporters of the Republican Party because it
was Republican President Abraham Lincoln who helped in granting freedom to American slaves; at the time, the Republicans and Democrats represented the sectional interests of the North and South, respectively, rather than any specific ideology, and both right and left were represented equally in both parties.
From their earliest presence in North America, African Americans have contributed
literature, art, agricultural skills, foods, clothing styles, music, language, social and technological innovation to American culture.
African American music is one of the most pervasive African American cultural
influences in the United States today and is among the most dominant in mainstream popular music.
African Americans have also had an important role in American dance.
Many African American authors have written stories, poems, and essays influenced
by their experiences as African Americans. African-American literature is a major genre in American literature. Famous examples include Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Richard Wright,Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou.
African Americans have fought in every war in the history of the United States.[148] The gains made by African Americans in the Civil Rights and Black Power
movements not only obtained certain rights for African Americans, but changed American society in far-reaching and fundamentally important ways. Prior to the 1950s, Black Americans in the South were subject to de jure discrimination, or Jim Crow.
The term African American carries important political overtones. Earlier terms used to
identify Americans of African ancestry were conferred upon the group by colonists and Americans of European ancestry. The terms were included in the wording of various laws and legal decisions which some thought were being used as tools of white supremacy and oppression.[150] There developed among blacks in America a growing desire for a term of self-identification of their own choosing.
For many, African American is more than a name expressive
of cultural and historical roots. The term expresses pride in Africa and a sense of kinship and solidarity with others of the African diaspora—an embrace of panAfricanism as earlier enunciated by prominent African thinkers such as Marcus Garvey, W. E. B. Du Bois and George Padmore.
Who is African American?
Since 1977, in an attempt to keep up with changing social opinion, the United States
government officially classified black people (revised to black or African American in 1997) as "having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa."
Some historians consider ancient Africa the cradle of human civilization.
