Parentella

Portrait of Joseph Cinque painted by Nathaniel Jocelyn

In honor of Black History Month, here are some interesting facts about how black people have shaped America’s history and culture. I gathered this information primarily from Biography.com (with a little from Wikipedia).

August 1619: The first Africans as slave labor are introduced in America.

• It is believed that these Africans were sold into conditions similar to indentured servitude – a common practice in England and colonial America. The American slavery system became more developed and codified in its inhumane treatment around 1680.
• Rice – Africans introduced the rice plant to North America and taught the English settlers how to cultivate and irrigate the crop.

1721: Inoculation Introduced to Americans by slaves

• During the smallpox epidemic, Onesimus, a Boston slave, instructs Cotton Mather, a Puritan cleric, about the African techniques of inoculation – this is the earliest recorded use of the technique in America, but a common practice in Africa.

1773: First book written by an African-American, Phillis Wheatley, that was published.

• Wheatley was subjected to an oral examination to test her knowledge and literacy because it was not believed that a Negro could write poetry. Among the group of examiners was John Hancock, a future signer of The Declaration of Independence.
• Phillis Wheatley wrote a poem for George Washington’s birthday, to which he wrote a letter of acknowledgement.

1787: The Three-Fifths Compromise

• At the Constitutional Convention, the Southern states wanted Blacks to be counted as equal to Whites, but the Northern states argued that slaves were considered as property and therefore should not be counted at all – a tactic likely used to deny the Southern states the political representation that their large population of blacks would bring them. A compromise was made whereas each slave would count as three-fifths of a person.

1808: The US bans the import of slaves, but not the sale and practice of slavery.

1831: Nat Turner Slave Revolt

• Nat Turner, a slave and a preacher, led a short and bloody slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia. Turner was later hanged and Virginia consequently instituted stricter slave laws.

1839: Amistad slave ship revolt

• En route to Cuba, Joseph Cinque (born Sengbe Pieh) led 37 African slaves in a revolt. They took control of the ship, killing the captain, and ordered the crew to take the ship to Africa. The crew instead headed towards the Americas. In US waters, the US navy boarded the ship and charged the crew with mutiny and murder.
• The matter went to the Supreme Court, where the slaves were defended by former President, John Quincy Adams. The court ruled that the slaves were illegally captured and thus innocent, and ordered that they be freed and returned to Africa.

Click here for 1840 – 1855.

———————–

Compiled by Christi Grab, Parentella’s Editorial Director and author of  The Unexpected Circumnavigation: Unusual Boat, Unusual People Part 1 – San Diego to Australia.

Related posts:

1. History of Thanksgiving
2. History of Halloween

Tags: Amistad slave ship, black history month, innoculations, Joseph Cinque, Nat Turner, Phillis Wheatley, rice crops, Slave revolts, slaves, three-fifths compromise

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 at 12:01 am and is filed under Christi Grab, Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.