History Presentation

Anthony Langarica

World History

4-10-19

Topic: Early Slavery in America

Audience: College Students // The Next Generation

Why is topic important?

I believe this topic is important to talk about because it teaches us the history of our country as well as the history of people from different backgrounds. In addition it’s important to know about slavery because it shows how it has affected many people and countries.

2-4 Key Ideas:

1.) Atlantic Slave Trade- 10 million Africans were enslaved and transported to Europe and the Americas between the 15th and 19th centuries. During the 15th century when Portugal, and subsequently other European kingdoms, were finally able to expand overseas and reach Africa. The Portuguese first began to kidnap people from the west coast of Africa and to take those they enslaved back to Europe. Slave trade played an important role in providing British industry with access to raw materials. This contributed to the increased production of manufactured goods.

2.) Life of a Slave- Slaves were punished by whipping, shackling, beating, mutilation, branding and/or imprisonment. Punishment was most often meted out in response to disobedience or perceived infractions. Rape was also common among both men and women. Sexual relations between white men and black women were regulated by classifying children of slave mothers as slaves regardless of their father's race or status. They believed that having a mixed baby was a “damage of racial purity.” Education of slaves was generally discouraged for fear that knowledge and literacy would cause rebelliousness. Slaves worked basically everyday for about 14-15 hrs and sometimes even more. Slave owners had slave codes which were laws that controlled and governed slaves.

3.) Civil Rights Movement-  A struggle by African Americans in the mid-1950s to late 1960s to achieve civil rights equal to those of whites, including equal opportunity in employment, housing, and education, as well as the right to vote, the right of equal access to public facilities, and the right to be free of racial discrimination. On December 1, 1955, the modern civil rights movement began when Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

4.) Post Civil Rights Movement // Modern Day- After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the United States came up with the Voting Right Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. This then ended segregation in public places and prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex or national origin. However, many people were displaced from their native homeland. This affected many people because they had a choice, be part of their traditional culture or be a custom to the lifestyle that they were forced to live by for so many years.

Why is it important to know this information?

It is important to learn about this because this shows us how people were forced out of their native homeland in order to serve someone that was “more superior” than a particular race. In addition, this shows the brutal life that many people lived for so many years. Finally we learned that sometimes the voiceless does have a voice. An example of this would be the Civil Rights movement and how many african americans came together as one in order to show that whites aren’t more superior and that all men and women are created equally.

How might this help someone personally?

This might help someone personally because then he would treat someone the way he would want to be treated. This could help the world in a larger scale because if we learned about this history, then hopefully things like this won't happen again. I believe that an NDNU Hallmark, we honor the dignity and sacredness of each person, can be linked to this in some way. I believe this can be linked because each person has dignity and sacredness, meaning that each person is honored and respected.