It is in the 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 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 are 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. According to history, the first Africans Americans on record in British North America were the Negroes who settled in Jamestown Virginia in 1619. The English settlers were affected by harsh conditions and most of them died. Africans were brought into the United States to work as laborers. The demand for laborers in the U.S led to the growth of the slave trade. 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 was taken to the New World (United States).
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African Americans also referred to Black Americans that consist of an ethnic group of Americans that is largely made of persons who can trace their roots to the black racial group of Africa. Basically, this term was used to refer to descendants of the enslaved black people in America during the time of slavery. Additionally, the Black Americans are the third largest racial group in the USA that is after White and Hispanics. African Americans participated in the economic, cultural, religious and political history of America in the early history of America. The presence of African Americans in the USA contributed to the development in different areas.
During the time of slavery, many Africans were shipped to America to work in the agricultural fields. Additionally, the slaves of black origin had knowledge of agriculture that was critical to the development of the agriculture sector. An example is the rice plantation as illustrated by Judith Corney in her book Black Rice . 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 Africans. 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 3 . 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. Additionally, Africans contributed heavily to the development of the economy of America, especially through agriculture. Crops like cotton, rice, and tobacco contributed to the growth of the U.S. economy 4 . This is due to the fact that Africans were a source of labor both skillfulness and cultivation of the first rice seeds in America. This marked the success of assimilating rice culture into American food production and agriculture culture.
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 5 . 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 6 . 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 7 . 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 on 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 8 .
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 9 . However, such a perspective changed as early as in 1775 when Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia created an all-black regiment comprising predominantly runaway slaves 10 . 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 during 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 11 .
African Americans since the settlement mostly as slaves in America have influenced and changed the cultural practice of the Americans. This cultural influence ranges from language, music, family size and life, manners, dance, religion, literature, and arts. History states that after the arrival of Africans in the USA they were forced to relinquish their traditional customs and cultural practice. However, as they continued to stay their practice become more prevalent and hard to stop and it was quickly adapted for survival and to sustain their lives in America. Additionally, the traditional African dishes and the technique of preparing meals has been assimilated into the American food culture. They include practices such as deep frying, millet bread, and gumbo. On the other hand, the American literature has borrowed from the African Folklores with examples such as the Chicken Little, brer rabbit and brer fox being derived from African stories. This literature has been utilized mostly in the childhood infrastructure for learning and development 12 .
On the other hand, indigenous songs and dances from the African community have been assimilated into the American dance and songs culture. In the early days, Africans were forced to abandon drum as they were viewed as a way of communication by their masters. They substituted the drums by clapping and dumping feet in the ground. This resulted in the African rhythmic song and dance to be major component In the American music and dance culture. This included shuffles, breakdowns, jigs, and strut which are more drum-less beats become a common thing in America to date 13 . The most genre of music that is common in America and associated with African culture is blues which are also within the religious melodies common in African-American communities. Those noted above are just the tip of the iceberg as there is an abundance of notable contributions made by enslaved Africans that are often duplicated but highly disregarded in the American culture 14 . For instance, enslaved Africans are also responsible for establishing the augmentation of the dairy industry, artificial insemination of cows and the creation of various vaccines and cures including smallpox and poisonous snake bites. The African origins most influential staple is evidenced throughout modern popular culture where America has continuously capitalized in more ways than one through language, hairstyles, clothing and contemporary music.
After the entry of black into America, their religion story is that of variety and creative fusion. African Americans come along with a wide range of traditional religious beliefs and practices. This diversity was well pronounced in their different cultural and linguistic groups that they had come from. Due to the presence of Islam in Africa for a long time and about 20% of the slaves being Muslims it was also imported into America as some of the salves still practiced Islam. However due to the harsh conditions in which the slaves lived in the preservation of their religious practices was difficult. Furthermore, some of the songs, rhythms, and movements of the African Americans were combined in a creative way with the religious practices introduced to them by Americans and Europeans 15 . To encourage the Africans to attend church services the master encourages the worship that was found to be familiar to many Africans. This included singing in an enthusiastic way, clapping, dancing and even possession with sprites which has changed the religious culture in America 16 .
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.
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