130). Although their white masters generally exposed them to Christianity, enslaved people adopted only parts of the white religion and mixed it with elements of their own beliefs.
Even though the family was not generally a legally sanctioned unit on plantations, the basic roles of mothers, fathers, and grandparents in rearing children did exist. Families could be severed and separated at the whim and desire of the slave owners, but families did often manage to stay together and develop tight bonds. "However frequently the family was broken, it was primarily responsible for the slave's ability to survive on the plantation without becoming totally dependent on and submissive to his master. The important thing was not that the family was not recognized legally or that masters frequently encouraged monogamous mating arrangements in the quarters only when it was convenient to do so, but rather that some form of family life did exist among slaves" (Blassingame, 1972, p.151).
Folktales and songs were also an important part of the culture that enslaved Africans developed. "Like other African peoples, the slaves used proverbs to teach the young and as commentaries on life. The African element appears in about 30 per cent of the slave proverbs" (Blassingame, 1972, p.114). The songs and tales were a way for the elders of the culture to pass on their wisdom and experience to the younger people and to forge ties between people and generations.
The development of a common culture was important to the enslaved Africans from many nations because the unity it fostered helped them to survive physically and emotionally. Because they were an oppressed group, the development of their culture was especially important. It is ironic that their experience mirrors the majority of the white population of the United States. A common culture was formed out of the belief that they were being oppressed by European nations, religions, and governments. Many different cultures became the "melting pot" that is so famous a part of American assimilation. The national motto, e pluribus unum, means "out of many, one." Interestingly, out of many African nations, the enslaved people of the south created one slave culture. Although many other cultures have melted into the pot of current American society, the black and white races still possess largely different cultures and have not unified. Perhaps the beginnings in enslavement are too much to overcome.
2) Slave resistance took many forms including forces inside and outside of slavery. The outside force of resistance came in the form of Northern abolitionists and writers who made fiery appeals to end the institution of slavery that they found so objectionable on moral and philosophical grounds. Inside forces of slavery came from the slaves themselves in the form of passive and active resistance. Passive resistance appeared in songs and stories that the enslaved people used to mentally resist the dehumanizing force of slavery. Active resistance was embodied by slaves who chose to runaway or help others to escape, and also by bold people like Nat Turner who led violent rebellions in order to punish the white perpetrators of slavery.
The Northern abolitionists felt they had morality on their side. Writers like William Lloyd Garrison and Harriet Beecher Stowe stirred public sentiment against the institution of slavery by reminding people of the brutal and dehumanizing effect on both the enslaver and the enslaved. "The opponents of slavery charged that it was a tyrannical institution, the existence of which frustrated the American dream as manifested in the Declaration of Independence, with its flaming words on human equality" (Smelser & Gundersen, 1978, p.94). Frederick Douglas himself used the same argument in his famous Narrative of the Life of a Slave in which he delineated his treatment as a slave, the inhuman behavior of some of his enslavers, and his eventual path to freedom. The abolitionists, obviously, found a much broader audience in the North than in the South, and their cause gained ground slowly in the years preceding the Civil War. Clandestine organizations such as the Underground Railroad helped channel fugitives to free areas and were a way for Northerners to act concretely to help the enslaved.
Among the enslaved people, emotional resistance appeared in the form of songs and folk tales that used undercover terms and metaphors to express their dissatisfaction with enslavement and their yearning for freedom. "Relying heavily on circumlocution, metaphor, and innuendo, the slaves often referred to fear, infidelity,...
era after the Civil War that came to be known as the Reconstruction Era. The author of this report is to focus on several different things. This essay will describe the plans of President Lincoln and President Johnson and how they differed from the plans of Congress. There will also be a focus on the impact of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The author
American history from the colonial period through the Reconstruction era. Clearly, thorough such an extensive period, numerous significant events occurred that could alter history and culture. However, four events stand out because of their great influence on our history, our culture, and the very fabric of our lives today. These events all made history, but they all influenced people of the time, and often influenced the world, too. The first,
Reconstruction and Black America According to Foner In spite of the fact that African-Americans were largely at the center of the ideals in conflict during the Civil War, history would largely overlook their experiences in the aftermath of this sustained and bloody conflict. The era known as Reconstruction would be far more frequently described according to White experiences in the succeeding years. Eric Foner's 2002 text Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877,
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" The more the freedmen resumed the habits and postures of slaves, the better the planters were able to accept the new system. Thus reconstruction even with all the good intentions of some people was still a major failure. It had failed to bring the kind of peace and freedom for blacks that it was intended to. Since the blacks had become more or less accustomed to being treated as chained
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