BASED ON JORDAN, WHITE OVER BLACK

Which came first: slavery or racism?

Jordan’s thesis

White prejudice did not become racism until the late 1700s after the American Revolution, because of the possibility that Black slaves might become free

When the English first saw Africans, they had four impressions:

1. Africans as black2. Africans as heathens (no religion)3. Africans as savages4. Africans as overly sexual

Are any of these racist?

Jordan says, “no”:

These reactions “did not add up to a vision of innate, ineradicable inferiority, rooted in the body”

These first impressions were not racism, but things they saw as differences. These reactions did not lead to the enslavement of Africans

English were interested in comparisons of culture “Savages” were considered products of their

environment Skin color was seen as a result of climate

We need to ask two separate questions:

What caused slavery?

And why were some groups enslaved rather than others?

SO……

What caused slavery?Economics (that was easy)

Why were some groups enslaved and not others?

Why Africans?

Others did it:Slavery existed in AfricaSpanish and Portuguese were already enslaving

AfricansThey had been used to grow sugar in the

Mediterranean

Africans seemed to fit their ideas about slaves:Africans were captivesViewed as lacking civilization and religionNot English

Why not Native Americans?

Why not the Irish, Scots and Welsh?

They tried because they viewed Native Americans as they viewed Africans

But natives could easily escape, died from European diseases, and there was a greater threat of retaliation from Native American societies

English did treat them differently, often barbarically

But they were fellow Christians

And they were protected by established governments

They could serve as indentured servants, who were brutalized, degraded, and subject to treatment harsher than slaves at time, but were never stripped of their freedom.

What about others?

The English first used indentured servants, but shifted to enslaved Africans because:

Fewer people became indentured servantsSlaves were a better long term investmentCould pass slave status to childrenHad a decreased chance of flightFit existing preconceptions about slaves,

were vulnerable, and available

Is this racism?

Jordan says, “no”:

English didn’t try to justify enslaving Africans because there was no apparent need to justify slavery at this time.

The chief distinction of this time was religion, not skin color or race

Africans happened to be black, but blackness wasn’t why they were enslaved

When did racism arise?

Problems arose in the early 1700s:

African slaves converted to Christianity

Some African slaves became free and lived side-by-side with free whites

What to do about children of mixed-race couples? Are they black or white? Slave or free?

The original arguments for enslaving Africans no longer work

Critical shift: The American Revolution

The Declaration of Independence says that ALL people are created equal.

Many Americans begin to oppose slavery; many slaves are freed.

Question: If Americans are free and independent, what should be done with

slaves, who are not free, and not independent?

Seems like slavery might be abolished. What happened?

(a) A profitable cotton industry depended on slave labor. Cotton was a central part of the American economy and during the Revolution demand for it increased, so the economy came to depend more on slave labor.

(b) Fear of slave rebellions, as in Haiti.  

For economic reasons, slavery was viewed as necessary by the new American government(most of whom were plantation and slave

owners)

How to justify enslaving Africans?

Black slaves assumed inherently unequal. Because they’re not fully human, they don’t deserve equal rights.

Over time, Blacks (free and slave) banned from juries, and increasingly segregated from whites in churches, schools, and other public spaces.

In some states, one drop of African blood is enough to label a person “Black.”