The need for slaves was important around the early seventeenth century due to the increasing European demand of lucrative crops such as tobacco. Slavery became so profitable within a few short decades that the ethics surrounding slave ownership quickly changed. Furthermore, as rice plantations became more prominent in the eighteenth century, the demand for African slaves continued to increase. As author Judith Carney describes in her book Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas, rice was not a crop that most Europeans knew how to grow, and therefore slaves often had to tutor planters in growing the crop, bringing added importance and need for African slaves to the area. The slave trade grew so drastically in the seventeenth century that by the turn of the century, many areas had more Africans than whites. Carney further exemplifies this in her book by explaining that in 1670, the first settlers that arrived in South Carolina had about 100 black slaves. By 1708, it was documented that slaves outnumbered the whites.13 This drastic change in population demonstrates the increased need and perceived importance of slavery in America at that time.
It was around the end of the seventeenth century that Africans and Indians began to bring resistance to the whites in protest to their maltreatment and slavery. Native Americans slowly were permitted to leave their slave owners beginning around 1670, after a certain amount of years served. This change in policy was justified with the thought that Africans were imported to America, whereas the
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Indians came by land and therefore should have the ability to leave. While slave owners were willing to make this change, they were not willing to let go of their African slaves, which were still extremely profitable. Up until this time, religion had still presumably played a role in colonist’s decisions and lives. It is easy to question how those who followed Christian beliefs were still able to treat other humans in such a way, but such can be seen in various other points of European history as well. The increasing development of both market farming and slavery in early American history was deeply rooted in the belief that settlers were maintaining God’s will. The exploitation of land was justified by the belief that God gave the settlers that land to use as they pleased. Blinded by the desire to turn a profit, plantation owners were ready to justify their actions in any way they needed to. At the time, whites had deeply brainwashed themselves to believe that Africans and Native Indians were inferior by birth, and therefore commodification was acceptable. Even with the change in Native American slavery policies, it would take over another hundred years of African slavery and oppression before the Civil War would take place and slavery would finally be abolished. The development and expansionism of the American West tells a similar story of United States history, but is less rooted in religious undertones.
The beginning of the West’s development occurred in the early nineteenth century, when countries from all over the world were attempting to claim a stake in the rapidly evolving continent. As is described by Carol Merchant in Major Problems in Environmental
History, Indian tribes experienced the advent of Spanish and Mexican explorers and missionaries from the south, followed by Russians and Aleuts from the north, New England traders and whalers by sea from the west, and finally Europeans, Americans, Asians, Mexicans, Chileans, and other ethnicities by sailing east and around the world. Essentially, the West became a stomping ground for a variety of cultures throughout the world as they attempted to get their hands on valuable commodities such as gold and animal pelts. This power struggle between various countries not only exemplified the growing market economy of the time, it also reflected the power dynamic that was arising through national expansion. Whereas the development of New England arose out of the Puritan’ seemingly good intentions, the intent of industrializing the West was extremely clear and to the point: every settler was trying to turn a profit. As the Native Americans were being continuously removed from their land, industrialization continued to flourish as the prospect to “get rich quick” enticed many people to flock out west. In addition, the United States government greatly encouraged expansionism to the new frontier and felt that the land was theirs to claim. Such commodification of the western frontier further pushed the environment’s depletion. Major pollution issues began to arise in rivers associated with hydraulic mining and species such as the buffalo became endangered due to over hunting. To provide further imagery of the invasive nature of westward settlements, it is estimated that the 100,000 Indians living in California in 1849 were reduced to 15,000 by 1900 due to diseases, massacre and loss of resources. The white man was still considered superior in his own mind and thus the push to expand and exploit became a symbol of dominance. Even so, the prospect for many people to go to the west was that there was plenty of opportunity to find wealth, regardless of ethnicity. Especially during the Gold Rush, immigrants of all different backgrounds were in gold fields and mining towns in an attempt to make a living and a name for themselves. This all came with the general disregard for nature and a lack of regulation, which quickly polluted the United States in capacity that had never before been seen. Further commodification can be easily explored throughout the industrialization period, where Americans began to rapidly move to cities and the development of factories, cars, and other commodities grew in abundance. While religion was still a part of many people’s lives, it was certainly not the driving force behind the industrialization period as it was for early colonial settlement. The connection between the environment and religion was not commonly made, but it was at times romanticized by authors of the period. For example, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden was a very successful account of his two-year experiment in 1854, during which he chose to live away from society amid America’s rapidly changing economy. Throughout the novel, he ties in his spiritual awakenings and experiences through his intimate time in nature. Works such as these certainly influenced readers at the time, who were beginning to realize that America’s once plentiful wilderness was quickly disappearing. Such ideals and romanticized views of nature helped to spark environmental movements and preservation acts that led to the development of wilderness preserves and national parks. While these acts were nowhere close in scale to the industrialization that was still occurring at the time, they were a counter act that helped to bring a connection to the importance of the environment. Perhaps one of the most profound impacts of European settlements in America was the commodification of human resources in an attempt to expand economic potential. The long lasting environmental, economic and social effects of slavery throughout American history can still be seen in modern society today. Not only did this commodification impact hundreds of thousands of African Americans and Native Americans, it also greatly changed the dynamics of agricultural production and the United States’ development into a country. The rise of slavery in the United States between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries greatly shifted economic and environmental focus from substance farming to market based agriculture, which the land had never before seen. The commodification of both human and material resources throughout early United States history fundamentally shaped American ideals in a way that set the tone for America’s future and has profoundly impacted the environment. While human rights and environmental activism still have a ways to go, much can be learned from America’s environmental history. When putting this into perspective and realizing that the United States has gone through so much in only a period of four hundred years, one can only imagine where environmental reform will be in a century from now. The market economy is likely not going anywhere anytime soon, but environmental legislation and acts created by the Environmental Protection Agency have helped bring reform and a sense of responsibility to business owners and citizens over the past several decades. In examining the shear volume of corruption and commodification that has occurred in the mere four hundred years since colonial development began, it is fascinating to recognize that religion played a heavy role in the grassroots of this development. Were it not for the commonly held belief that the land is a gift from God for humans to use as they please, the development of the United States may have looked very different. From the innocent desire to spread the gospel of God and bring charity to their neighbors, the European settlers managed to completely take over the Native American’s land, deplete farming soils, pollute rivers, and greatly disrupt the natural biodiversity of the areas of which they inhabited. On a completely different facet, one could wonder if the Native Americans would have ever succumbed to commodification were it not for the European presence. In the book The Ecological Indian: Myth and History, written by Sheppard Krech III, Krech plays the devils advocate by exploring the idea that Native Americans did not live completely harmonious with nature, as is commonly believed. In fact, Krech give specific examples and argues that Native Americans participated in the commercialization of deer hunting and bison hunting, therefore playing a role in their endangerment much like European and American competitors of the time. Even so, the scale of exploitation by Native Americans was nothing close to the scale that Europeans exhibited, thus making it hard to imagine that the Native Americans would have depleted the environment on the same scale as settlers have managed. Regardless, it is important to note that no human is clear of blame when examining the impact our species has had on the environment throughout history. While religious beliefs certainly played a role in creating the commodification that has shaped the United States’ environmental history, it is necessary to note that other political and economic factors played a role in environmental impact as well.
In Africans In America Terrible Transformation written by PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) writes an article stating the historical background of African Americans that were captured and enslaved from Western Africa from 1450-1750. About 200,000 Africans were transported to Europe Islands in the Atlantic. But after Columbus excursion, Slave traders found a new market for slaves: New World plantations. From this, they were used for the planting crops for the Europeans that were uneducated how farm such as, rice, cotton, tobacco, and sugar in the south. It wasn’t till the American Revolution where they protest against “enslavement” from the British and demands from American “liberty” for some hope of being free from bondage . After reading
As these sources have illustrated due to the high demand for free labor, slavery became a prominent problem through this era. However, African enslaved did not simply obey their capture. The primary source The Slaves Mutiny written by in 1730 by William Snelgrave focuses on another aspect of slavery that the other sources didn’t quite touch on, or go into much depth, and that would be slave revolt or mutiny. Author Snelgrave explains that “several voyages proved unsuccessful by mutinies.”# As author Snelgrave states upon ““what induced them (the African slaves) to mutiny? They answered, “I was a rogue to buy them, in order to carry them away form their own country, and that they were resolved to regain their liberty if possible.”# Author Snelgrave states, “They had forfeited their freedom before I bought them, either by crimes or by being taken in war, according to the custom of their country, and they now being my
As eighteenth century progressed, the british colonists treated bonded men and women with ever greater severity. They also corralled the Africans behavior and past from them every conceivable advantage of labor and creativity, often through unimaginable mental and physical cruelty. Slaveholding attracted the European colonists but...
The use of labor came in two forms; indenture servitude and Slavery used on plantations in the south particularly in Virginia. The southern colonies such as Virginia were based on a plantation economy due to factors such as fertile soil and arable land that can be used to grow important crops, the plantations in the south demanded rigorous amounts of labor and required large amounts of time, the plantation owners had to employ laborers in order to grow crops and sell them to make a profit. Labor had become needed on the plantation system and in order to extract cheap labor slaves were brought to the south in order to work on the plantations. The shift from indentured servitude to slavery was an important time as well as the factors that contributed to that shift, this shift affected the future generations of African American descent. The history of colonial settlements involved altercations and many compromises, such as Bacons Rebellion, and slavery one of the most debated topics in the history of the United States of America. The different problems that occurred in the past has molded into what is the United States of America, the reflection in the past provides the vast amount of effort made by the settlers to make a place that was worth living on and worth exploring.
Between 1800 and 1860 slavery in the American South had become a ‘peculiar institution’ during these times. Although it may have seemed that the worst was over when it came to slavery, it had just begun. The time gap within 1800 and 1860 had slavery at an all time high from what it looks like. As soon as the cotton production had become a long staple trade source it gave more reason for slavery to exist. Varieties of slavery were instituted as well, especially once international slave trading was banned in America after 1808, they had to think of a way to keep it going – which they did. Nonetheless, slavery in the American South had never declined; it may have just come to a halt for a long while, but during this time between 1800 and 1860, it shows it could have been at an all time high.
I want to start with the history of slavery in America. For most African Americans, the journey America began with African ancestors that were kidnapped and forced into slavery. In America, this event was first recorded in 1619. The first documented African slaves that were brought to America were through Jamestown, Virginia. This is historically considered as the Colonial America. In Colonial America, African slaves were held as indentured servants. At this time, the African slaves were released from slavery after a certain number of years of being held in captivity. This period lasted until 1776, when history records the beginning of the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage showed the increased of African slaves were bought into America. The increase demand for slaves was because of the increased production of cotton in the south. So, plantation owners demanded more African slaves for purchas...
Slavery was a practice in many countries in the 17th and 18th centuries, but its effects in human history was unique to the United States. Many factors played a part in the existence of slavery in colonial America; the most noticeable was the effect that it had on the personal and financial growth of the people and the nation. Capitalism, individualism and racism were the utmost noticeable factors during this most controversial period in American history. Other factors, although less discussed throughout history, also contributed to the economic rise of early American economy, such as, plantationism and urbanization. Individually, these factors led to an enormous economic growth for the early American colonies, but collectively, it left a social gap that we are still trying to bridge today.
Natives were forcefully removed from their land in the 1800’s by America. In the 1820’s and 30’s Georgia issued a campaign to remove the Cherokees from their land. The Cherokee Indians were one of the largest tribes in America at the time. Originally the Cherokee’s were settled near the great lakes, but overtime they moved to the eastern portion of North America. After being threatened by American expansion, Cherokee leaders re-organized their government and adopted a constitution written by a convention, led by Chief John Ross (Cherokee Removal). In 1828 gold was discovered in their land. This made the Cherokee’s land even more desirable. During the spring and winter of 1838- 1839, 20,000 Cherokees were removed and began their journey to Oklahoma. Even if natives wished to assimilate into America, by law they were neither citizens nor could they hold property in the state they were in. Principal Chief, John Ross and Major Ridge were leaders of the Cherokee Nation. The Eastern band of Cherokee Indians lost many due to smallpox. It was a year later that a Treaty was signed for cession of Cherokee land in Texas. A small number of Cherokee Indians assimilated into Florida, in o...
Slavery allowed the American economy to flourish for over 300 years. It allowed many Southern states to grow at a furious pace without significantly diversifying their economy. The South relied on the harvesting of cash crops such as tobacco and cotton, which were very labor intensive. Without much cheap labor, slaves were relied on to harvest the crops; this provided enormous value to farmers and plantation owners in the region. However, the institution of slavery was challenged in the 18th century by decades of Enlightenment thought, newfound religious ideals, and larger abolitionist groups. After the American Revolution many states would ban the practice of slavery completely and only a few would maintain the “peculiar institution”.
Slavery became of fundamental importance in the early modern Atlantic world when Europeans decided to transport thousands of Africans to the Western Hemisphere to provide labor in place of indentured servants and with the rapid expansion of new lands in the mid-west there was increasing need for more laborers. The first Africans to have been imported as laborers to the first thirteen colonies were purchased by English settlers in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 from a Dutch warship. Later in 1624, the Dutch East India Company brought the first enslaved Africans in Dutch New Amsterdam.
The Market Revolution was a time of loss and restriction for Native Americans. They experienced the largest constraint of liberty through the loss of land and citizenship. Two Supreme Court rulings represented the government's anti Native American stance. The first ruling Johnson v. M’Intosh in 1823 proclaimed that Native American were not owners of their land and only had a “right of occupancy.” In 1831, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, ruled that Native Americans were “wards” of the federal government. Both of these rulings were devastating for Native Americans, and resulted in the loss of the land that they had been living on for hundreds of years and loss of citizenship. In response, John Ross, a Cherokee chief, led a passive resistance movement where Native Americans refused to give up their land. This did not end well for Native Americans and led to their forced removal. The Trail of Tears during the winter of 1938-39 was the forced march of Native Americans to what is present day Oklahoma. About a quarter of the people died on trip and the survivors’ lives were radically changed by being forced to live on foreign land. Africans Americans were another group who were fighting for their equality during the Market Revolution with the abolitionist movement. This movement began during the Market Revolution, but faced significant barriers. Their lack of liberty became even more apparent when international slave trade was banned in 1807. The southern economy still relied on the slave labor and no US state considered free blacks full citizens. Race served as a boundary in the political world and despite the abolitionist movement even free blacks were still second class citizens. Liberty contracted for people of color as whites controlled the Market
The Western culture has evolved over a span of several years with various civilizations specializing in specific aspects of life or nature. In essence, Western civilization dates back to the BCE periods when Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, and Ancient Rome reigned. Each of the Western civilizations came with a clear lineage that portrayed such attributes as property rights, free market economy, competition, personal freedoms, and innovation (Perry, 2013). Besides, the western civilizations came at different periods with some of the attributes evolving or remaining unchanged throughout the lineage. However, the non-western civilizations contributed towards such attributes to a given extent, primarily because of the interactions among
This made the Indians lose their land, rights and businesses. When the African American slaves were first brought onto US land, they had no other option yet to be a slave and work under the command of Americans while the Americans set out to fulfill their American dreams. Have things changed around however throughout history?... ... middle of paper ...
The Great Divergence is term used to portray the gradual shift of dominance that Europe gained by establishing itself as the most powerful world civilization by the 19th century. While a case could be made that the Great Divergence occurred because of the pre-eminence of Europe and Britain, as well as their supposed superiority in invention and innovation above anywhere else in the world, this argument is flawed. A more compelling argument would be to state that it was rather through the geographical advantages that Europe obtained that lead it into eventually becoming the most powerful civilization after 1500 A.D., as this essay will strive to demonstrate.
Analysing The West: Unique, Not Universal. Throughout history, Western civilization has been an emerging force behind change in foreign societies. This is the concept that is discussed in the article, the West Unique, Not Universal, written by Samuel Huntington. The author makes a very clear thesis statement and uses a variety of evidence to support it. This article has a very convincing point.