Essay #1

Essay # 1

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Essay # 1

Introduction

The history of the United States has gone through a lot of phases; there was civil war and there were revolutions, there were elections and there was industrialization. But the most important phase of American history was most probably the inculcation of the black people in society. This was surely the most important event in the history of the United States which changed the country forever. It affected almost every aspect of the American Society and change the whole nation economically, financially, socially and culturally (Bryc, Durand, Macpherson, Reich, & Mountain, 2015).

The black people initially came to the continent as slaves. They were brought through ships and vessels via the Atlantic Ocean. They were brought forcefully to work in the fields of South America. They were treated like vermin and considered the lowest class of society. In fact, they were not considered the part of the society at all and treated miserably. They were taken extreme work and they were not even paid properly. Many slaves complained that they did not receive proper meals and were forced to sleep in the animal’s shed.

Many films, documentaries, and TV series have been made on this topic, enlightening the dark phase to the Black history in the United States and how they rose to power. One of the prominent documentaries among these is “The African Americans”, which provides a complete and elaborate description of the whole journey of the Black people in America. Episode 1 of this series, “Many Rivers to Cross: The black Atlantic” puts light on the journey of individuals who were brought to America in the very beginning of this phase. One of the prominent instances out of all these was the story of Olaudah Equine, who was brought to America as a slave when he was a young boy.

Discussion

Olaudah Equine recalls how he was brought from his home town, Africa to America in 1500. He remembers that once, some people from a foreign land came to his country. These people looked strange; they did not have the skin like the people in Equine’s village and had long hair. Their skin was white and pale in complexion. The most disturbing and scary feature about these people was the look on their faces, that was very savage and cruel.

These white people took men, women, and children forcefully on a ship. The condition of the ship was more than miserable. Olaudah Equine explains that the captives were held in the basement of the ship, where they were packed so tightly that it was almost impossible to move. One of the other reasons that these prisoners or captives could not move was that they were restrained into chains very tightly.

One of another very prominent aspect of this journey was the distinct smell in this basement. Equine recalls that there was so much stench in this basement that it was almost impossible to breathe. The smell constantly made him nauseous and he was not able to eat at all CITATION Gat13 \l 1033 (Gates Jr, 2013). The amount of food that they received was already very limited and poor in quality and then the stench made it impossible to eat.

The white-skinned people treated people like Equine very cruelly. Their attitude was extremely gruesome and they did not care whether the person was getting hurt or bleeding. They even flogged the prisoner if he or she refused to eat. The Africans were also cut severely if they tried to jump in the water and give up their lives. All these experiences collectively made Equine so depressed that he wished for death.

References

Bryc, K., Durand, E. Y., Macpherson, J. M., Reich, D., & Mountain, J. L. (2015). The genetic ancestry of african americans, latinos, and european Americans across the United States. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 96(1), 37-53.

BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Gates Jr, L. H. (Director). (2013). [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://unco.kanopy.com/video/african-americans-many-rivers-cross-black-atlantic-1500-1800