Enslavement System Dr. G. J. Giddings Characteristics forced, resisted, Codified/legal, Contradictory … (Evolving/evolutionary) (indentured servitude; post-bellum …) Key Concepts (M. Karenga, 1980) Culture collective, self-conscious means by which a people (re-)create, celebrate and introduce themselves to the world. History struggle and record of a people … humanizing the world, i.e., shaping it in their own image … Forced … Chattel slavery 4 Forced … by the numbers Capitalism 12.5 (10.7)million U.S.: 388,000; Brazil: 5 million ~90% enslaved 50% enslaved, plantations 88% enslavers, owned <20 25% of enslaved, lived on plantations of >50 ~52% of free, Southern “Slave Community” Enslavers; overseers; head-slaves (house, field, freshwater, creoles. Forced …by the numbers Legal… Mass Bay Colony, 1641 “Slave Code” 244 years enslaved; 155 years free Virginia Code, 1670 Child followed mother’s status U.S. Constitution, 1787 3/5 compromise clause End of slave trade clause (1808) “fugitive slave” clause Fugitive Slave law of 1793 South Carolina, 1822 Black sailors imprisoned while ships were docked After Denmark Vesey revolt conspiracy Death penalty 73 death penalty laws: for crimes of arson, rape, revolts … Resisted … Day-to-day Small daily acts of defiance Cultural Remaining one’s self; holding on to African traditions … (“Sankofa” by Haile Gerima) Escape 1810-’50: 100,000 Revolutionary War: 30, 000 in Virginia; 75% enslaved in Georgia War of 1812(-1815) Blacks (Alan Taylor’s The Internal Enemy: Slavery & War in VA, 1772-1832) Revolt 1/10 mutinied (i.e., Amistad, 1839) Gabriel P., 1800; D. Vesey, 1822; N. Turner, 1831 Creole Case, 1841: Revolt; British freed 128 in Bahamas Contradictory … Crispus Attucks, 1723-1770 “Boston Massacre” martyr, 1790 Phillis Wheatley, 1753-1784 poet … “Brains & Beauty as well as Brawn” Rice cultivation in South Carolina; metallurgists; carpenters … Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings’ relationship; “Internal enemy” (A. Taylor) Ethnology Polygenesis theory of human development “One drop rule” 5,000 Black Revolutionary War veterans Emigration American Colonization Society, 1816 Segregation started at Puberty Contradictory … Crispus Attucks 1723-1770 Narragansett mother 1750 Advertisement Boston Massacre, 1770 5 casualties “Blackness” … “Normative behavioral system; a way of looking at the world, deciding how one aught to behave, and then acting accordingly” -Rhett Jones (1997) 3 ingredients Slavery experience Lack of ethnicity One drop rule .

1. Enslavement System
Dr. G. J. Giddings

3. Characteristics
forced,
resisted,
Codified/legal,
Contradictory …
(Evolving/evolutionary)
(indentured servitude; post-bellum …)

4. Key Concepts (M. Karenga, 1980)
Culture
collective, self-conscious means by which a people (re-)create,
celebrate and introduce themselves to the world.
History
struggle and record of a people … humanizing the world, i.e.,
shaping it in their own image …

6. Forced … Chattel slavery

7. 4
Forced … by the numbers
Capitalism
12.5 (10.7)million
U.S.: 388,000;
Brazil: 5 million
~90% enslaved
50% enslaved, plantations
88% enslavers, owned <20
25% of enslaved, lived on plantations of >50
~52% of free, Southern
“Slave Community”
Enslavers; overseers; head-slaves (house, field, freshwater,
creoles.

8. Forced …by the numbers

9. Legal…
Mass Bay Colony, 1641 “Slave Code”
244 years enslaved; 155 years free

10. Virginia Code, 1670
Child followed mother’s status
U.S. Constitution, 1787
3/5 compromise clause
End of slave trade clause (1808)
“fugitive slave” clause
Fugitive Slave law of 1793
South Carolina, 1822
Black sailors imprisoned while ships were docked
After Denmark Vesey revolt conspiracy
Death penalty
73 death penalty laws: for crimes of arson, rape, revolts …

11. Resisted …
Day-to-day
Small daily acts of defiance
Cultural
Remaining one’s self; holding on to African traditions …
(“Sankofa” by Haile Gerima)
Escape
1810-’50: 100,000
Revolutionary War: 30, 000 in Virginia; 75% enslaved in
Georgia
War of 1812(-1815) Blacks
(Alan Taylor’s The Internal Enemy: Slavery & War in VA,
1772-1832)
Revolt
1/10 mutinied (i.e., Amistad, 1839)
Gabriel P., 1800; D. Vesey, 1822; N. Turner, 1831

12. Creole Case, 1841: Revolt; British freed 128 in Bahamas

13. Contradictory …
Crispus Attucks, 1723-1770
“Boston Massacre” martyr, 1790
Phillis Wheatley, 1753-1784
poet …
“Brains & Beauty as well as Brawn”
Rice cultivation in South Carolina; metallurgists; carpenters …
Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings’ relationship;
“Internal enemy” (A. Taylor)
Ethnology
Polygenesis theory of human development
“One drop rule”
5,000 Black Revolutionary War veterans
Emigration
American Colonization Society, 1816
Segregation started at Puberty

14. Contradictory …
Crispus Attucks 1723-1770
Narragansett mother
1750 Advertisement
Boston Massacre,
1770
5 casualties

16. “Blackness” …
“Normative behavioral system; a way of looking at the world,
deciding how one aught to behave, and then acting accordingly”
-Rhett Jones (1997)
3 ingredients
Slavery experience
Lack of ethnicity
One drop rule

17. MIDTERM EXAM/REVIEW 100 Points HIS 1110 G. J.
Giddings, Ph.D.
Answer the mandatory essay and 2 other essays, one from each
section below
-2 pages per essay – approximately 6 pages total
-All essays should be in a single MS Word document,
attached/uploaded to the assignment prompt.
Support every part of each essay answer with course resources;
construct each essay with a
descriptive/unique title, introduction, body, and conclusion;
proof read your writing for accuracy,
clarity, grammar, plagiarism, etc.
35 points per essay; 30 points mandatory essay; 10 points of
extra credit for a 3rd essay

18. MANDATORY Essay
A sample title: “Enslavement Roots of the Sate of African
America”
(Use the study guide on pages 3-4, to prepare for this mandatory
essay)
MANDATORY (30 points)
Use ALL of the following 20 words/concepts to discuss, in
essay format, what each concept means
within the context of our course themes thus far. How do these
20 concepts help tell of the African
American story from Africa, through enslavement and
emancipation and the present?
History Rift Valley; Africanisms in Black Culture; Bantu
migration; Queen Njinga; Enslavement
characteristics; Resistance to enslavement; Crispus Attuck;
Phillis Wheatley; Ethnology; Thomy Lafon &
Julien Hudson (1800s); D. Walker, N. Turner & W. L. Garrison;
Frederick Douglas; “1850 Compromise”;
John P. Parker; Kansas-Nebraska Act; Dred Scott; Prudence
Crandall; “Black people’s CNN”; and Jesse
Jackson. Use the attached fill-in-the-blank worksheet to
practice/verify your understanding of the 20
concepts.
ESSAY OPTIONS
Section #I. Present as Prologue (choose only one)
A sample title: “The Deep Roots of the Present State of Black
America”
Essay #1. Describe/explain today’s state (condition) of African
America in terms of the disparities

19. (compared to the white population) in the areas of employment,
health, incarceration, wealth and
politics/power. Did the slavery experience contribute to these
disparities between Blacks and whites;
how so or how not so? Despite the disparities, what do you see
as specific current strengths (Hip-hop,
elected officials, Black live matters movement, etc.) of the
African American community and how do
these strengths specifically work to relieve the relatively poor
state/condition of African America?
Essay #2. Consider the 4 Africanisms as explored in Giddings’
“Afrocentric Jay-Z” essay: communal, oral,
spiritual, matrifocal. What is the meaning and significance of
each Africanism in African American
culture and history, according to Giddings? What
evidence/support is given for each of the 4 Africanism;
are you convinced or unconvinced; and why or why not? What
are at least 2 connections you can draw
between Giddings’ arguments and what the other sources (i.e.,
F&H text, chapter 1) presents about
African culture?
Essay #3. Consider the various historically significant
personalities, events, initiatives/actions and
structures that make up over 150 years of Wilberforce history.
What specifically in this history has
ensured the survival (against the odds) of Wilberforce and
Central State Universities today, and their
ability to serve current students, professors, alumni, community
members and leaders? Do you think
Wilberforce and CSU play any unique role/s among HBCUs; is
so what, and if not why?

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Essay #4. Consider the obvious importance of politicians whom
we elect to represent us in the U.S.
congress (House of Representatives and Senate) by exploring
their website and other related sources.
Identify (name, party, background, etc.) your U.S.
Representative (from your residential congressional
district) and your 2 Senators (representing your state) and
answer the following questions about these
politicians: What are the issues important to all of any one of
these 3 leaders and what is your own view
on these issues? What other issues, important to African
Americans, do you wish these government
representatives would address (i.e., police brutality,
incarcerations, employment disparities, health
disparities, food deserts, etc.)?
II: African Background & Enslavement (choose only 1)
A sample title: “A New, Surprising and Impactful System of
Slavery in America”

21. Essay #5. Consider the unique and varied forms of
slavery/enslavement in Africa prior to encounters
with Europeans. How was slavery in Africa different from
chattel slavery as practiced specifically in the
U.S.? Discuss 3 forms of enslavement as practiced in Africa,
and explain how each was different from
U.S. chattel slavery.
Essay #6. Consider/review U.S. enslavement holocaust as a
four part/characteristic system. What are
at least 2 examples of enslavement, characterized/described as:
forced, legal, resisted and
contradictory? Concerning the many ways in which the
enslaved resisted bondage, what is at least one
example of the following forms of resistance: day-to-day,
cultural, escape, and revolt, and how effective,
in your opinion, were these forms of resistance?
Essay #7. Consider/review the militant abolitionist movement
of the 1830s and the 1850 national
events leading up to the U.S. Civil war. Describe any 3 militant
abolitionist events: “The Liberator,”
“Appeal to the Coloured …,” and Turner’s South Hampton
revolt, and explain how each event was
upsetting to the enslavement system of the southern U.S.?
Furthermore, explain how the following
1850s national events, eventually contributed to 11 southern
states seceding from the U.S. (Union): the
1850 Compromise (fugitive slave law), the Kansas-Nebraska
Act of 1854, the Dred Scott Supreme Court
decision of 1857, John Brown’s revolt of 1859, Harriett Beecher
Stowe’s 1852 novel, “Uncle Tom’s
Cabin”, and Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 election to the Presidency,
etc.? In your view, which one of these
events was/were most influential in causing the southern
secession and thus the U.S. Civil War of 1860-

22. 1865?
Essay #8 (Challenge). Read the attached history essay by Rhett
Jones, “Why Blacks are Committed to
Blackness” and answer the following questions: What is Jones’
thesis; how do each of the three
ingredients of Blackness shape this concept and African
Americans’ commitment to the concept of
Blackness; and of the reasons Jones offers for the one drop rule,
which to you is most convincing and
why so? Rhett Jones’ essay:
....LecturesEnslavementRhettJonesBlackness.pdf
../../Lectures/Enslavement/RhettJonesBlackness.pdf
EXAM - DEFINITIONS Concepts
HIS 1110 Dr. G. J. Giddings
Student Name: Joseph Sigmon
Directions:
Fill in the blanks with the full correct definition from answer
sheet; no abbreviations!
History -record and struggle of a people in the process of
humanizing the world; shaping it in their interest/image
C.E. - Common Era, replaces “AD” (Anno domini - Year of our
Lord)
Rift Valley 168,000. B.C.E. -Area in Africa with archeological
evidence of earliest humans
Africanisms in Black culture - oral, communal, Spiritual &
matrifocal
Niger-Congo languages -75% of Africa’s 2,000 languages are in
this linguistic group/family

23. Queen Njinga, 1624 C.E. - Ndongo monarch who adopted
Christianity as a political strategy
Characteristics of enslavement - resisted, forced, legal, &
contradictory
Resistance to enslavement – revolt, day-to-day, cultural, escape
Crispus Attuck, 1750, 1770 - Escaped enslavement in
Massachusetts, then first martyr in U.S. Revolutionary War
Phillis Wheatley, 1761 - Great poet, named after a middle
passage slave ship by Massachusetts enslavers
Ethnology, 1830s - Pseudo-science used to argue Black
inferiority myth and justify enslavement
John Malvin, 1830s - Purchased his freedom in VA; skilled
carpenter; move to Ohio and had to work as a cook
D. Walker, W. L. Garrison, & N. Turner, 1829-1831 - Led
Militant Abolitionist activities
Frederick Douglas, 1830s - Enslaved in Maryland and hired out
as a skilled ship caulker
“1850 Compromise” -Stricter “fugitive slave” law, ended “slave
trade” in Washington, D.C., etc.
Underground Railroad. 1810-’50 - 100,000 escaped slavery,
costing the South $30 million
Harriet Tubman, 1850s - “Underground railroad conductor,” and
Civil War spy, cook, nurse
Dred Scott, 1857 -Petitioned U.S. Supreme Court for freedom,
after living 4 years in Illinois
John Brown. 1859 -White radical abolitionist, who led an
armed revolt against slavery in Harpers Ferry Virginia, killed 5.
“Black people’s CNN,” 1980s - Hip-hop’s function, according
to Public Enemy emcee Chuck D
Jesse Jackson, 1984, 1988 - Increased Black voter registration
by running twice for President, winning 11 primaries/caucuses