Establishment of Slavery by Cedria Wells

1619 - American Slavery

cwells21_1 — 2025-05-13 01:54:20 UTC

In 1619, a group of about 20 enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia aboard the English ship White Lion according to John Rolfe. These people had been taken from the Portuguese slave ship San Juan Bautista. Once in Virginia, they were traded for supplies, making this the beginning of slavery in English America.

Primary Sources : https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/african-americans-at-jamestown.htm

https://encyclopediavirginia.org/4796-a3e3518f8729c87/

Image Source:

https://aaregistry.org/story/the-white-lion-slave-ship-a-story/

1789 - Expanding the Middle Passage

cwells21_1 — 2025-05-13 01:56:55 UTC

The Transatlantic Slave Trade was one of the largest systems used to transport enslaved people across the ocean for sale. Despite brutal travel conditions, ships like the Brookes carried hundreds-up to 454 people-crammed tightly below deck. Enslaved Africans were chained together, exposed to disease and abuse, and kept below to prevent them from learning to navigate or take over the ship. Some resisted by rebelling or choosing death over a life in slavery.

The Transatlantic Slave Trade shaped the progression of slavery creating a Global Trade System, Boosting colonial economies, expanding the scale of slavery. This system also linked Blackness to enslavement making slavery racial and hereditary.

Primary Source : https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/british-north-america/olaudah-equiano-describes-the-middle-passage-1789/

Secondary Source :

https://www.slaveryimages.org/database/view-the-database.php?cardid=17

Image Source :

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/slave-ship-brookes/

1840-1860s - Manifest Destiny

cwells21_1 — 2025-05-13 03:44:24 UTC

Manifest Destiny led many Americans to believe that the United States was destined to expand across the entire continent. Some even claimed it was their God-given right. As the nation pushed westward, slavery expanded with it, increasing the demand for enslaved labor. At the same time, fierce debates emerged over whether new states would permit slavery or outlaw it entirely.

The slave trade and Manifest Destiny were connected because of the westward expansion which increased the demands for enslaved labor. Which forced many to be enslaved further causing conflict over if new states would allow slavery.

Primary Source :

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/manifest-destiny/wyandotte-woman-describes-tensions-over-slavery-1849/

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/manifest-destiny/

Image Source :

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/manifest-destiny/

1860-1865 The Civil War

cwells21_1 — 2025-05-13 04:50:36 UTC

By 1862, African Americans were pushing the union forward, a war for the union slowly but surely became the war to eradicate slavery. In July, congress passed the Second Confiscation Act, by the summer Lincoln was pushing for the Emancipation Proclamation. Black units began to form in the military, Black enlistment was also encouraged, Black soldiers began to reshape society.

The Manifest Destiny encouraged the debate over slavery by opening new lands, creating more division and resulted in the civil war.

Primary Source :

https://www.americanyawp.com/text/14-the-civil-war/

Image Source :

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/burying-the-dead/

1865-1870s - Reconstruction

cwells21_1 — 2025-05-13 06:26:13 UTC

Congress passed the Thirteenth amendment which "abolished slavery" except for punishment for crime but this policy was lenient and short lived. The death of Abraham Lincoln invited Vice President Andrew Johnson which then allowed southern states to put in place things like "Black Codes." Then the Fourteenth Amendment was created having the government force the Bill of rights. Land ownership played a huge impact in the freedom African Americans wanted. The reconstruction of the south helped reunify Black families , rebuilt their religious worlds. Black churches were a staple in their community and would later bring them together due to the rise of the Jim crow laws.

The Civil War and the Reconstruction of the South are directly connected because the reconstruction era was the period that followed the war, aimed at rebuilding the south and integrating prior enslaved people into their society.

Secondary Source :

https://www.americanyawp.com/text/15-reconstruction/

Image Source :

https://www.americanyawp.com/text/15-reconstruction/

late 1800s-1960s - The Progressive Era

cwells21_1 — 2025-05-13 06:42:27 UTC

Jim Crow Laws introduced deep rooted racial segregation which further limited African American rights, freedom, and opportunities for growth. The tension allowed for hate groups to form and encouraged white supremacy more pushing Black people into a system creating room for debt and poverty. While dealing with white supremacy African Americans began forming their own communities, businesses, schools also even had political leaders fighting for their civil rights and education. Which fueled the Civil rights movement.

The Jim Crow Laws were an reaction to the attempts to give enslaved people rights. These laws were meant to reverse the right and freedom of Black Americans gained after the civil war and maintain white supremacy.

Primary Source :

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/20-the-progressive-era/booker-t-washington-w-e-b-dubois-on-black-progress-1895-1903/

Secondary Source :

https://www.americanyawp.com/text/20-the-progressive-era/#VI_Jim_Crow_and_African_American_Life

Image Source :

https://www.amazon.com/Jump-Jim-Crow-Atlantic-Popular/dp/0674010620

Routes of Enslaved People Project

cwells21_1 — 2025-05-13 07:06:58 UTC

Sites of memories were created to honor and remember our history. These sites educate the public on slavery and the the trauma they faced. Considering the discrimination and prejudice that's still being faced today these memorials help African Americans remember the fight and the work the people before them put in place to get the freedom we have now. Seeing This statue motivates our people to continue on and keep fighting because we've came along way from slavery.

Secondary Source :

https://unescositesofmemory.org/fort-negley/

https://unescositesofmemory.org/sites-of-memory/

Image Source :

https://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/26228439106