European mariners brought black Africans to America in the 1500s in the middle as slaves. This forced movement was the first in American history. However, the slave trade wasn't new to Europe or Africa. In the eighth century, Moorish merchants traded people as goods throughout the Mediterranean. In addition there were numerous West African peoples kept slaves. Slaved West Africans were often prisoners of war, criminals or the lowest-ranking members of their caste system.

The capture and sale of Africans to the American slave market was brutal and, often, deadly. Two of five West African captives were killed in the process of transferring them to the Atlantic coasts, from where they were sold to European slave traders. On the slave ships they were chained beneath decks, in coffin-sized racks. A third of them drowned at sea.

In America the slaves were sold at auction to owners, who wanted them primarily as plantation workers. The owners of slaves were able to harshly punish slaves. They could also break families by selling off family members.

The slaves were able to create an identity for themselves despite the struggles. Everyone on plantations were responsible for the children. Although they risked separation, slaves often married and kept strong family bonds. They were exposed to Christianity and then developed their own worship style. You can get more info on visit by visiting racial equity site.

Spirituals, which are music of worship, express both slave's endurance and the belief system of religion. Slaves frequently altered the lyrics of religious songs to convey the message of freedom, or to celebrate resistance.

African culture had a huge influence on American musical, theater, and dance over time. African rhythms found their way into Christian songs and European marches. The banjo was originally an African stringed instrument. Blues sounds nothing more than a mix of African and European musical scales. Vaudeville was a part of the evolution of song and dance forms first performed by street performers of African descent.

Abolition and Civil War

In the 17th and 18th centuries some blacks gained their freedom, obtained properties and were able to join American society. Many of them moved into the North where slavery was not as widespread, even when it was still legal. Slave and free African Americans made important contributions to the economy of the North and infrastructure by building canals, roads and the construction of cities.

Frederick Douglass knew that slavery wasn't the South's burden to bear alone. The economics of the industrial North depended on the slavery-based agriculture of the South. Douglass challenged his Northern audience to join the fight against Southern slavery. Douglass posed the question "Are the fundamental ideals of natural justice and political freedom that are embodied in the Declaration of Independence extended to us?" "What is the meaning of the Fourth of July to the American slave?"

Many Northern blacks signed up to fight for the Union during the Civil War. Some people expressed surprise at the intensity with which black soldiers fought. Black soldiers were not fighting to bring back the Union. They were fighting for liberation of their people.

Reconstruction and response

In order to ensure that slaves were freed, the Northern soldiers remained South following the fall of Confederacy. Blacks set up their own schools and churches purchased land, and then elected themselves to office. In 1870, African Americans had sent 22 representatives to Congress.

The Great Migration North

A lot of blacks started moving to the north in the 1890s. World War I opened many factory jobs. The 1920s saw the introduction of new laws that drastically reduced European immigration. This decrease in the number of immigrants led to a rise in demand for workers in Northern cities. Despite the fact that they were still in the midst of segregation Southern blacks began moving to the north in greater numbers. Young black men were eager to take unskilled jobs in meat packing facilities or steel mills and on auto assembly lines in Chicago, Omaha, and Detroit.

Black workers have undoubtedly improved their lives when they lived in Northern cities. Many immigrants from the rural South were hoping for gas and indoor plumbing. Discrimination also met them.

Yet black urban culture blossomed. Musicians like Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, and King Oliver brought their music north from New Orleans. These jazz pioneers made their mark in Chicago's sophisticated urban setting by using new recording technology and improved instruments, which made them famous in the Roaring 1920s.

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