The survival of African-Americans during the colonial period as well as during the Civil War in America was anchored on the cultural and traditional aspects. By the start of the Civil War, the rich cultural, social and political interactions that were achievable by the African-Americans has shrank considerably in the face of increasing levels of racism, slavery, and poverty. Even though the racism and slavery, that were increasingly rampant during the colonial periods and times of the Civil War, impaired the ability and freedom of African-Americans to engage in their cultural traditions, they still managed to secure their survival through certain aspects of these cultures. Principally, West African traditions played a critical role towards the survival of African-Americans during the colonial period in the sense that they remained united, organized and resilient in the face of all the tribulations they were experiencing from the colonial masters (Alexander and Rucker, 2010).
Moreover, their survival in times of the Civil War was inextricably rooted in West African traditions to the extent that they embraced agriculture as one of their economic and social activities. In this respect, the African-Americans managed to earn a living for themselves as well as their family members based on the produce and returns from their farming activities. The West African traditions required men to be hardworking as artisans and farmers and they also worked as slave just to ensure that their families war able to survive through thee tough times occasioned by colonialism as well as Civil War in America. According to their native West African tradition, African-Americans considered land as a property that was owned jointly by the entire community as opposed to small groups of people or individuals. This tradition of land ownership considerable increases their chances of survival since they were able to boost their unity and encourage one another through regular interactions amongst themselves during different social and economic activities (Harris, 2003).
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The other aspect of the African culture that played a major role in the survival of both free and enslaved African-Americans during the colonial period and Civil War was that of communal unity and togetherness. The manifestation of this cultural aspect was evident in the daily interactions of African-Americans amongst themselves at during the Civil War as well as during colonial days. During the difficult times experienced by the African-Americans and which were characterized by slavery, racism, and wars, they came together in unity to appreciate certain elaborate ceremonies and rituals that formed a significant part of their beliefs. They strongly believed that it was their responsibility to ensure that their environment was guarded and treated well. Considering that slavery was largely rampant during the colonial times, the African-Americans were the greatest victims and their survival in such circumstances was deeply rooted in their cultural beliefs. The gained more resilience, courage, and strength to face their difficult and most challenging circumstances occasioned by slavery, racism, and wars from their spiritual beliefs their ancestors could mediate between them and the Supreme Being (Alexander and Rucker, 2010).
In this regard, both the enslaved and the free African-Americans embraced one another and pursued common and communal interests that would be beneficial to members of their communities and the generations to come. The unique traditions and cultural aspects held by African-Americans were instrumental in aiding them towards the path of overcoming racism and beginning to flourish with regard to their social as well as economic activities. Some of these activities included farming, dancing, music, and artisanship among others. The colonial through to Civil War times were characterized by the development of African-American traditions and cultures as a means of addressing challenges that were emanating from being subjected to racial discrimination and slavery in America. To that extent, the survival of the African Americans and their descendants through tough times was inextricably linked to their ability and consistency in embracing the various aspects of the traditions and cultures (Jordan and Schomp, 2007).
During the period between 1619 and 1860, Africans-Americans were involved in various struggles to secure their freedom from slavery, poverty, and racism among other things. As a way of claiming their self-respect and dignity, African-Americans had to struggle towards overcoming the legal barriers and limitations that were in existence at that time. One of the events through which the African-Americans managed to demonstrate their ability to overcome legal limitations and claim their dignity was the Stono Rebellion, which took place in the year 1739. During this event, the aspect of slave rebellion and resistance became a reality that made significant achievement towards creating awareness among both slave and free African-Americans about the possibility of defying the idea of slavery. At this time, most of the slave masters in the United States started becoming anxious and worried by the wave of slave revolt that was gradually mounting pressure against them (Alexander and Rucker, 2010).
The other event was the creation of the Free Soil Party in 1848 where a number of anti-slavery groups and organizations came together and agreed to fight for the rights and the freedom of the African-Americans who were being subjected to slavery and racism. Moreover, these groups and organizations were able to express their displeasure and strong opposition to the entry, expansion, and growth of enslavement to the extent of reaching the western territories. Later on, the Free Soil Part gave rise to the Republic Party. During the same years, anti-slavery African-Americans were able to agitate for passing of the personal liberty law as a way of trying to reclaim the dignity and self-respect. The outcome of this agitation was the passing of a personal liberty law by states, which included Rhode Island, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, and Ohio. The rationale for selecting these events involved considering and analyzing the reasons that motivated its occurrence as well as the groups of people or individuals who actively participated in this event. Additionally, the selection of these events largely considered the objectives of their occurrences and the outcomes that they were eventually able to achieve (Harris, 2003).
The creation of the Free Soil Party by different anti-slavery groups and organizations whose membership comprised of African-Americans is an event that has been able to assist in examining the abilities of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution in living up to their promises. In this regard, the Constitution of the United States refers to the abolishment of slavery and the existence of free persons and free citizens specifically in Article I, Section 2. The explanation by this clause is that the number of individuals in every state for the purpose of taxation and representation is expected to be found through the addition of the entire number of free individuals and a section of others. Even though there is no direct mentioning of the word slavery in this particular section of the United States Constitution, the phrases “free persons” and "all other Persons" implies the categorization of people into groups that refer to their freedom or lack of it (Jordan and Schomp, 2007).
To that extent, the ability of the United States Constitution to live up to its promise of abolishing aspects of slavery remains questionable. This is because the clause in Article I, Section 2 in this constitution is explicit when it comes to referring to economic and social classes of different individuals in the present society. These classes of people include the free people, Indians and bound servants who are essentially the modern-day slaves. This is a demonstration of sufficient evidence that the constitution still needs to do more in displaying its ability to fulfill its promises. When it comes to the ability of the Declaration of Independence was considerably able to show its ability to live up to its promises in light of the Stono Rebellion and the wave of resistance to slavery that was witnessed in the seventeenth century. In this regard, the Declaration of Independence was an express indication and demonstration of commitment against colonialism and the associated ills such as slavery (Harris, 2003).
The adoption of the statement in the Declaration of Independence by the members of the Second Continental Congress supported the Stono Rebellion and the wave of resistance to slavery that took place in the middle of the seventeenth century. Under this declaration, several colonies in America resisted and detached themselves from colonial rule where colonial masters were taking part in the perpetration of slavery. This is a clear demonstration that the wave of resistance to slavery was able to highlight the ability of this declaration to live up to the promises made. For example, a section of the Declaration of Independence pointed out that all men were considered as equal right from creation where the Creator endowed every individual with rights that were unalienable such as the right to life, the right to pursuit of happiness and right to liberty among others. To this extent, the Declaration of Independence document strongly advocates for the abolishment of the concept of any form of colonialism and slavery since they contribute towards inequality and violation of certain fundamental human rights that are considered to be unalienable (Jordan and Schomp, 2007).
References
Alexander, L. M., & Rucker, W. C. (2010). Encyclopedia of African American history . Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.
Harris, L. M. (2003). In the shadow of slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626 1863 . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Jordan, A. D., & Schomp, V. (2007). Slavery and resistance . New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.
