African American Imperialism Research Paper

Donovan Mayers
Ms.Barret
English Composition
17 November 2015

On January 31, 1865 passed by congress, and then ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States but somehow the suffering of African Americans continued for another 100 years. People have always found alternative ways to blindly oppress African Americans within this country. Hundreds of years ago when after colonization the plantations in the united states grew by a large number and the demand for free labor increased exponentially particularly due to the demand on tobacco and cotton. The plantation owners were trying to find workers because originally the people who worked for free labor were white poor slaves and indentured servants. Nathaniel Bacon was a white property owner who was upset by the

mistreatment of the slaves so he organized a rebellion to over throw the higher power in efforts to be treated better and stop working. The plantation owners knew forcing the native Americans that were there to work wouldn’t be the smartest idea because they would most likely fight back and or rebel.

Owners decided the best thing for them was to ship in slaves from Africa instead of the ones from Europe because they knew that the Africans wouldn’t be a problem and more likely to conform to their rules and regulations. They knew Africans couldn’t concoct a plan to come together and overthrow authority like the white slaves and indentured servants did. The Concept of race is a relatively recent development. Only in the past centuries, owing largely to European imperialism, have the worlds people been classified along racial lines (Alexander, p.23). Native Americans and African slaves were labeled as savages simply due to the fact they were different and lived a different life from the European culture. Following the abolishment of slavery, racial segregation would emerge and spread throughout the south. The plantation owners hoped to reestablish a system of control that would ensure a low paid, submissive labor force. Segregation begun years earlier in the north, as an effort to prevent race mixing but never developed into a comprehensive system such as they did to African Americans in the south

(Alexander, pg.66). That very system we would come to know as Jim Crow.
Racial segregation would soon evolve into a new caste system detailing that slavery just survived and developed into a more civilized way of treating African americans. Slavery left a stain on American society indicating the white culture was the right culture and labeling white people more dominate over other races. Even far after the long tideous time in the jim crow era and the black codes, once African Americans were given legal rights, many white conservatives fought back for reclamation, demanding the government to dial back to the days of oppressing black people. White people who lived in the south were not happy about African Americans obtaining legal freedom due to the ending of the jim crow era. White Americans couldn’t see African Americans finally moving past the oppression and past the racial segregation and discrimination. But soon conservative whites were looking for a new system of oppression because they knew whatever they came up with couldn’t include slavery. Jim crow replaced slavery but that too had died so while Negros stood only a “brief moment in the sun,” History reveals that the seeds of the new system of control were planted in the form of law and order (Alexander, pg.84).