The African American experience in colonial and antebellum North Term Paper

The African American experience in colonial and antebellum North America - Term Paper Example Food was scarce and even opted to eat corpses. Mostly, slaves came from Africa, the Caribbean and South America and by 1619; there were more than a million slaves in Virginia (Zinn 4). The whites and the Indians practiced their culture while the Africans were humiliated, and their culture was deemed to be inferior. Ironically, the African civilization was at par to that of Europe in terms of technology. Since slaves were treated harshly, they started rebellions that were crushed mercilessly. We are told that even some of the offenders were burnt alive and some hanged (Zinn 8). Later on, the black slaves and white servants started colluding to cause mayhem but those caught were equally punished. Racial discrimination is evident in this article because whites were considered superior to blacks hence given privileges like ownership of weapons and enough food. During this time, slaves also started demanding for their freedom (Zinn 12). The antebellum period was a time of slavery in North America whereby discriminatory laws were in place. Despite the existence of this laws, the African Americans were allowed to participate in societal duties. The black men were allowed to enlist themselves into the army that fought the 1812 American revolutionary war. In relation to these laws, Englishmen were not allowed to marry a Negro woman. However, if by chance an Englishman committed fornication with a Negro man or woman, he was fined (Bacon 42). On the other hand, non-Christians who were brought to the United States by land or sea and were not considered free (Bacon 42). IN this era, nobody was allowed to buy anything from a slave. Any woman who was a slave and conceived a child while serving her master was fined thousand pounds of tobacco. The child father was required to provide security to the church wardens of the parish where the child shall be taken care of and any complaints from the wardens reported to the