Subordinate Groups free essay sample

The name Africans gave to the trip across the Atlantic Ocean to New World enslavement. I was taken from my homeland against my will. I belonged to the tribe of Your which made up about 24% of the slave population here in America. Enslaved Africans represented many different peoples, each with distinct cultures, religions, and languages. Most originated from the coast or the interior of West Africa, between present-day Senegal and Angola.Other enslaved peoples originally came from Madagascar and Tanzania in East Africa. (Nile of the New World)On the ship ride over we were loaded in the lower part of the ship chained to one another. There were so many Of us packed in one area that there was hardly any room to spare like animals. When it was time to eat we were fed as though we were dogs they threw the food down to us and the strongest were the only one who ate. We will write a custom essay sample on Subordinate Groups or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I remember the horrible odor that came from those who had defecated on the long trip over. Many on the trip became ill and some even died because of disease but it didnt matter, they ere just unshackled and thrown overboard. The day the long trip was finally over I can remember we were removed from the ship and looked over meticulously from head to toe as though we were some animal being checked for any type defect to be later taken to the auction block to be sold to the highest bidder. I can remember wondering where am I and what is this strange language hear? not realizing that I would one day be beaten for using my native tongue.To meet the growing demands of sugar and cotton, slaveholders developed an active domestic slave trade to move surplus workers to the Deep South. New Orleans, Louisiana, became the largest slave mart, followed by Richmond, Virginia; Natchez, Mississippi; and Charleston, South Carolina. Between 1 820 and 1860 more than 60 percent of the Upper Souths enslaved population was sold south. They fastened the men first with chains around their necks a nd then handcuffed them in pairs then they bound the women together with rope. We covered 25 to 30 miles a day on foot, men, women, and children marching south in large group called coffees only to be sold after this long voyage. The traders removed the restraints when the coffee neared he market. (Nile of the New World) The day that Master Smith bought me is a day that will never forget, The day of our arrival Master Smith took one of us and beat him within an inch of his life to let us know that if we didnt obey him we would endure the same fate.I saw so many in those days being stripped from their families and sold to other plantation owners. I was considered one of the lucky ones with the patenting of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 it made it possible for us workers to gin-?separate the seeds from the fiber-?some 600 to 700 pounds daily, or ten times more tone than permitted by hand. The Industrial Revolution, centered in Great Britain, quadrupled the demand for cotton, which soon became Americas leading export.Planters acute need for more cotton wor kers helped expand southern slavery. By the Civil War the South exported more than a million tons of cotton annually to textile manufacturers in Great Britain and the North. Short-staple, or upland cotton, dominated the market. An area still called the Black Belt, which stretched across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, grew some 80 percent of the nations crop. Simultaneously tone expanded into the new states of Arkansas and Texas.In parts of the Black Belt enslaved African Americans made up more than three-fourths of the total population. (Nile of the New World) We worked form sun up till sun down to meet the grueling demands for cotton in those days Oh how I miss my home land and what it was to be free all know now is bondage. I sit in my slave quarters sometimes and just cry trying to find the answer to the nagging question that has tormented me since they brought us here what is my name? Struggle at times to remember my name who am l?