Unit 2 History

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 Started with the start of civilisation in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) 10,000 years ago.  Ancient Greeks used women for domestic work and (later on) men for farming.  Ancient Romans started the ‘slave trade’ for all kinds of jobs (e.g. mining, gladiators etc.).  The Portuguese started the ‘transatlantic slave trade’ and other empires followed.  The British brought slaves to America where ‘all men are [were] created equal’ … except slaves.

Slaves tend the hair of their mistress

 US has the eighth largest Black population in the world  Slavery began in 1619 with 20 Africans in Jamestown as indentured servants  1660’s British colonies passed laws ◦ Blacks became slaves for life ◦ Interracial marriage was forbidden ◦ Children of slaves bore the status of the mother regardless of father’s race

 Both contemporary institutional and individual racism have their origins in the institution of slavery  Slavery in US rested on 5 central conditions: ◦ Slavery was for life ◦ Status was inherited ◦ Slaves were considered mere property ◦ Slaves were denied rights ◦ Coercion was used to maintain the system

 Could not marry or meet with a free Black  Marriage between slaves not legally recognized  Slave could not legally buy or sell anything except by special arrangement  Slave could not possess weapons or liquor  Slave could not quarrel with or use abusive language toward Whites  Slave could not possess property (including money), except as allowed by his or her owner

 Slave could make no will, nor could he or she inherit anything  Slave could not make a contract or hire him or herself out  Slave could not leave a plantation without a pass noting his or her destination and time of return  No one, including Whites, was to teach a slave (and in some areas even a free Black) to read or write or to give a slave a book, including the Bible

 Slave could not gamble  Slave had to obey established curfews  Slave could not testify in court except against another slave  Rules varied by state and were not always enforced  Violations dealt with in a variety of ways ◦ Mutilation and branding ◦ Imprisonment was rare; most were whipped  Owner immune from prosecution for physical abuse

 Social Darwinism is an application of the theory of natural selection to social, political, and economic issues. In its simplest form, Social Darwinism follows the mantra of "the strong survive," including human issues. This theory was used to promote the idea that the white European race was superior to others, and therefore, destined to rule over them. Charles Darwin wrote ‘Origin of the Species’ in 1859.

 Attitudinal Racism: General dislike of a certain race or group without reason  Ideological Racism: Believing some races superior to others (e.g. Adolf Hitler)  Individual/Group Racism (e.g. Ku Klux Klan)  Institutional Racism: Create patterns of injustice and inequality because of skin color. (e.g. voting (1960), high price of colleges in America)

Labor Market Education Housing Media Unequal opportunities and outcomes Criminal Justice

 The 13 American Colonies (on the east coast of what is now the United States) fought against British to gain independence.  Their main reason for fighting was that the British kept taxing them, controlling their trade and interfering with laws and military matters.  Independence was declared in 1776, with Thomas Jefferson promoting ‘all men are created equal’. Jefferson owned as many as 600 slaves in his lifetime.

 The revolution helped make the United States of America a free and independent nation.  However, it avoided the ‘slave issue’.  Slavery was already on the way out in Europe (Abolition in Britain, 1833) and many of the states (particularly in the north) had either banned or made laws to gradually abolish it.  Other states, particularly the plantation states of the South, wanted to keep slaves to keep making profits and because they feared what the ‘free’ slaves would do (i.e. fight back).

 Abraham Lincoln, born in Kentucky, became President in  In the same year he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, which he used to declare that he would use ‘war powers’ to ‘free all slaves in states still in rebellion’.  This led to the ‘slave states’, including Kentucky, to cede from the United States of America.  This led to the Civil War between the USA and the Confederate states.

 The first branch of the Ku Klux Klan was established in Pulaski, Tennessee in May  Most of the leaders were former members of the Confederate Army, it’s leader (the Grand Wizard) being Nathaniel Forrest (the origin of Forrest Gump’s name!).  Dedicated to white supremacy, the Klan tortured and killed black Americans and sympathetic whites.