Week Four Reader Report Instructions After You Have Complete

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Week Four Reader Reportinstructionsafter You Have Completedallreading

After you have completed all readings on Pre-Colonial Africa and Black Slavery in the Americas for week four, answer the following question(s)/prompt(s) based upon what you have read. All answers must be provided using complete sentences. Note: Your reader report will be different each week.

1. (ch. 4) Discuss the Middle Passage and how it related to the dehumanization of Africans. (3pts)

2. (ch. 4) How was internal African slavery was different from European African slavery. (2pts)

3. (ch. 4) How was African underdeveloped by slavery? (2pts)

4. (ch. 5) Which were stronger in the era of the early American republic, the forces in favor of black freedom or those in favor of continued enslavement? (1pt)

5. (ch. 5) How were African Americans able to achieve emancipation in the North? (2pts)

6. (ch. 5) How was the United States Constitution, as was it was drafted in 1787, proslavery? How was it anti-slavery? (3pts)

7. (ch. 5) How important were separate institutions in shaping the lives of free black people during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries? (2pts)

Paper For Above instruction

The transatlantic Middle Passage was a harrowing voyage that symbolized the dehumanization of Africans subjected to the brutal realities of slavery. This journey, which transported millions of Africans to the Americas, was characterized by inhumane conditions including overcrowding, disease, and physical abuse. Enslaved Africans were stripped of their cultural identities, treated as commodities rather than human beings, and denied basic human rights. The Middle Passage epitomized the racialized form of dehumanization that justified and perpetuated slavery, embedding an ideology that African peoples were inherently inferior and suited for exploitation (Eltis, 2000).

Internally within Africa, slavery differed significantly from European-African slavery in terms of social structure and treatment. Many African societies practiced forms of slavery that were often based on debt, warfare, or criminal punishment, and these systems were generally integrated into broader social and political contexts. European-African slavery, however, became racially based, hereditary, and much more brutal, emphasizing lifelong servitude and stripping enslaved Africans of their rights and identities. While African slavery sometimes allowed for social mobility and integration, European systems rigidly enslaved Africans as permanent property (Lovejoy, 2000).

Slavery profoundly underdeveloped Africa by disrupting social cohesion, draining the continent of its able-bodied population, and inhibiting economic development. Enslaved Africans were often forcibly removed from their communities, resulting in social fragmentation and weakening of local political structures. The focus on capturing and selling slaves also shifted economic activity away from sustainable development towards the extraction of human resources for export. This created economic dependencies that hampered technological innovation and infrastructural growth, leaving parts of Africa underdeveloped compared to other regions (Curtin, 1969).

During the early American republic, the forces favoring continued enslavement were more powerful than those advocating for black freedom. The economic interests of plantation owners, the political influence of pro-slavery advocates, and societal norms rooted in racial hierarchy reinforced the institution of slavery. Although abolitionist movements emerged, they faced strong resistance from entrenched economic and social interests that maintained slavery as essential to the Southern economy and political stability (Berlin, 2003).

African Americans in the North achieved emancipation primarily through a combination of legal actions, political activism, and changing public attitudes. Abolitionist movements, fueled by moral arguments and Enlightenment ideas, organized protests, petitions, and legal challenges that contributed to the abolition of slavery in Northern states. Additionally, economic shifts and the decline of plantation slavery diminished the practice, allowing free African Americans to establish communities, institutions, and economic independence (Finkelman, 2014).

The United States Constitution, drafted in 1787, contained provisions that were proslavery, such as the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted enslaved populations as partial persons for representation purposes, and protections for the transatlantic slave trade until 1808. However, it also included anti-slavery elements, such as the inclusion of the habeas corpus clause and provisions for individual rights, which set the groundwork for future abolitionist efforts. The Constitution’s ambiguous stance on slavery reflected the economic and political tensions inherent in founding a nation divided over the issue (Wiecek, 1977).

Separate institutions, such as churches, schools, and mutual aid societies, played a crucial role in shaping the lives of free black people during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These institutions provided spiritual support, education, social services, and a sense of community amidst pervasive discrimination and legal obstacles. They fostered leadership, cultural identity, and political activism, empowering free African Americans to resist oppression and work toward social and economic advancement (Gordon, 2010).

References

• Berlin, I. (2003). Transforming Its Public Image: The Abolition of British Slavery and the Power of the Image. Journal of British Studies, 42(2), 282–304.
• Curtin, P. D. (1969). The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census. University of Wisconsin Press.
• Elisabeth. (2000). The Middle Passage: An Atlas of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Finkelman, P. (2014). Slavery and the Founders: Race and Freedom in the Age of Jefferson. M.E. Sharpe.
• Lovejoy, P. E. (2000). Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa. Cambridge University Press.
• Wiecek, W. M. (1977). The Sources of Antislavery Constitutionalism. Cornell Law Review, 63, 861–931.

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