African American History: From the African Coast to the Civil War

Trace the rise of European exploration in the 15th century, and the factors that underlaid it. Observe how the Renaissance ideology of humanism drove a desire for expansion and wealth. Take account of the advances in military and seafaring technology that made exploration possible. Follow the first Portuguese incursions into West Africa, beginning a trade in humans that quickly became profitable.

Learn how the Portuguese developed a military presence in West Africa to protect their trade in gold and humans, followed by the Dutch, French, and British. Examine the reasons why African rulers were initially willing to traffic humans-and were, ultimately, forced to do so. Track the European expansion into the Americas, which made the demand for enslaved labor insatiable.

Hear firsthand accounts of the kidnapping of Africans who were sold into bondage. Observe the ways in which Africans were captured, including the enslavement of children. Visualize the long, forced marches to the coast, the suffering and death en route, and imprisonment before sale to traders. Finally, witness the dehumanizing process of the sale of captives, and the traders' astonishing cruelty.

The Middle Passage was the brutal sea journey of African captives to slavery in the Americas. Investigate the horrific conditions of life aboard slave ships, and the numerous uprisings by Africans to regain their freedom, against a background of cruel punishments, disease, suicides, and death. Learn how Africans coped, survived, and were "seasoned" to accept a new identity as slaves.

Explore how slavery developed within North America's 13 British colonies. Trace the origins of slavery in the Caribbean, and its importation to the mainland to support plantation agriculture. Examine why slavery in America became based entirely on race. Then study the colonial laws and legal codes that defined slavery and denied Africans the most basic human rights and freedoms.

Investigate the nature of slavery in America before the American Revolution. Observe how slavery took root in the Chesapeake region through tobacco cultivation, how it thrived in New England, in mostly urban settings, and in the Carolina colony through rice production. Note the differences in the experience of enslaved women from that of men, and the unrelenting cruelty of their treatment.

Discover how enslaved Africans managed to retain their heritage, despite the horrors of enslavement. Note how they practiced African methods of agriculture, cooking and consuming food, healing, and medicine, as well as music and dance traditions and religious and celebratory rituals. Learn also how cultural practices undergirded the numerous revolts by enslaved Africans seeking freedom.

Delve into the response by both enslaved and free Africans to the events of the American Revolution. Grasp their dilemma of whether to side with the British or with the American rebels and learn about the African American men who served in both armies, hoping for freedom following the conflict. Assess the painful outcome for Africans, as the slave system expanded dramatically after the war.

Trace the lives of Phillis Wheatley and Benjamin Banneker, two African American intellectuals who achieved wide recognition in literature and science. Drawing on the principles of the American Revolution, observe how many enslaved Africans leveraged the legal system to petition for their freedom and human rights, winning lawsuits and setting legal precedents for the future.