It is in public domain that the citizens of the United States are a mixture of various racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. African Americans form a significant size of the United States population, making it to be the country with the highest number of African Americans. It is also known that the United States has a distinct history, especially the struggle to be both politically and economically independent. One of the questions that is usually asked is, did African Americans contribute towards making the United States into a country it is today? If, so, what role did the African Americans play? The objective of this article, therefore, is to discuss both the active and passive role the African Americans played, especially before the Civil War.
Most of the time, it is difficult to talk about African Americans without mentioning slavery. The prominent reason is that African Americans were brought into the United States as slaves. Therefore, it is important to provide a brief discussion about slavery before delving into the role African Americans played. According to an article dubbed Slavery in America , slavery began in 1619 when 20 African slaves were brought to the US in a Dutch ship in the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia 1 . The first dispatch of the African slaves encouraged other European settlers, particularly in North America to look for more slaves throughout the seventeenth century. African slaves were seen as a cheap source of labor, and would help the European settlers to work on the large plantations. The article further indicates that during the eighteenth century alone, an estimate of six to seven million black slaves were imported to the New World (United States).
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Some of the plantations the black slaves worked on include those of rice, tobacco, and indigo. The black slaves were used from Georgia to the Chesapeake Bay colonies of Maryland and Virginia south 2 . The fact that European settlers bought slaves from Africa demonstrates that they were significant. The settlers needed manpower to work on the large tracts of land. These were not just any other slaves but African Americans. Most of those slaves were brought from parts of West Africa such as from Senegal, Mali, Ghana, and Nigeria. The huge physique of people from West Africa must have impressed the settlers. The article Slavery in America even points out that the slave trade deprived Africa of healthy and able bodied people to spur its economic growth.
The use of African slaves on large plantations in the United States, therefore, means that African Americans participated actively in transforming the economy of the country. Perhaps if slaves, mainly black people were not brought to the United States, the economy of the country would not have grown as fast as it did. These were people who did the real planting, harvesting, and processing. Even though they were subjected to hard labor, they worked dutifully and diligently for their masters. The situation would have been otherwise had the settlers used the natives or immigrants from Europe. The input of the African Americans also led to the discovery of important farm equipment. Since the output from the farms increased, it became necessary for the settlers to come up with alternative ways of harvesting and processing the produce. That in itself demonstrates both the active and passive role of African Americans in influencing the discovery and invention of important equipment to be used on the farms. It can, therefore, be asserted that although the slaves were not paid any wages, their input contributed to the building of infrastructure in the United States.
Politically, African Americans had a significant influence. One of such moments was during the Revolutionary War, a time when Americans wanted to gain independence from the British. Most Americans argued that their desire to gain independence from the British was similar to the cry from the slaves to be given freedom and liberty. It is interesting that although many people would not admit it, it was a person of an African descent that helped spark the Revolutionary War. A tradesman of African and Wampanoag descent known as Crispus Attucks was one of the first casualties of the Boston Massacre, which was a precedent of the Revolutionary War 3 . Attucks and other people were killed during the massacre and were hailed as American heroes. It is interesting that although Attucks was born into slavery, he actually participated in advocating for the independence of the Americans. The courage displayed by Attucks demonstrates that African Americans knew what oppression felt like and wanted to take a leading role in the independence struggle.
Critics may argue that not many African Americans took part in the Revolutionary War. However, the article African Americans and the American Revolution notes otherwise. It states that many enslaved and free African Americans were willing to take up arms against the British. The Americans found it increasingly difficult to fill up spaces to face the British with their own numbers. It, therefore, became necessary for the slaves, who were African Americans in this case to provide backup to the American soldiers to fight with the British. Every state above the Potomac River enlisted slaves for military service. Before the end of the Revolutionary War, an estimate of 5,000 to 8,000 had participated in the American cause in some role 4 .
Some critics also allege that African Americans served only in support capacities to the American soldiers. However, this allegation seems not to be true. There is evidence that black soldiers also made their own assessment of the conflict and supported the side that offered the best prospects for them to escape slavery. Initially, the army officials were reluctant to give the black soldiers a crucial role in the conflict because there was doubt over the capacity of the slaves to deliver. However, such a perspective changed as early as in 1775 when the Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia created an all-black regiment comprising predominantly of runaway slaves 5 . Just to provide a snippet, the army officials promised the black slaves their freedom if they participated in the revolution. However, some of the settlers refused to release the slaves to participate in the war. The only option that was left for such slaves was to run away from their masters to enlist in the war. Some slave owners also only released the slaves after being compensated or when they did not want their sons to be recruited in the war. Therefore, it is evident that the slaves had the desire to participate in the liberation of America, only that many of them were being prohibited by their masters. The participation of the African Americans in the Revolutionary War also signifies that they took a central role in their own liberation.
Conclusively, it is clear that the history of the United States cannot be written without the mention of the African Americans. As stated in the essay, the work that was done by the slaves on the large plantations helped develop America. Secondly, the African Americans also participated in agitating for the independence of America. It can, therefore, be asserted that the African Americans participated in the history of America actively and not passively.
Bibliography
America, Slavery. 2018. "Slavery in America - Black History. HISTORY.Com". HISTORY.Com . Accessed July 20 2018. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery .
Ayres, Edward. 2018 "African Americans and the American Revolution”. History Is Fun . Accessed July 20 2018. https://www.historyisfun.org/learn/learning-center/colonial-america-american-revolution-learning-resources/american-revolution-essays-timelines-images/african-americans-and-the-american-revolution/ .
HistoryNet. 2018. "Black History”. Historynet . Accessed July 20 2018. http://www.historynet.com/black-history .
Katz, William Loren. 1995. Eyewitness: a living documentary of the African American contribution to American history . New York: Simon & Schuster.
Scott, Whitfield. 2014. A focus on the African American's history of enslavement, contribution to the growth of the nation, and his struggle to be free .
1 America, Slavery. 2018. "Slavery in America - Black History. HISTORY.Com". HISTORY.Com . Accessed July 20 2018. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery .
2 Scott, Whitfield. 2014. A focus on the African American's history of enslavement, contribution to the growth of the nation, and his struggle to be free .
3 Katz, William Loren. 1995. Eyewitness: a living documentary of the African American contribution to American history . New York: Simon & Schuster.
4 Ayres, Edward. 2018 "African Americans and the American Revolution”. History Is Fun . Accessed July 20 2018. https://www.historyisfun.org/learn/learning-center/colonial-america-american-revolution-learning-resources/american-revolution-essays-timelines-images/african-americans-and-the-american-revolution/
5 HistoryNet. 2018. "Black History”. Historynet . Accessed July 20 2018. http://www.historynet.com/black-history .
