Tuesday, May 21

Tag: enslaved

Largely Whitewashed Out Of History – The Brutal Trade In Enslaved People Within The US
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Journalism

Largely Whitewashed Out Of History – The Brutal Trade In Enslaved People Within The US

A trade card with printed black type for the domestic slave traders Hill, Ware and Chrisp. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Joshua D. Rothman, University of Alabama For my recently published book, “The Ledger and the Chain,” I visited more than 30 archives in over a dozen states, from Louisiana to Connecticut. Along the way, I uncovered mountains of material that exposed the depravity of the men who ran the largest domestic slave trading operation in American history and revealed the fortitude of the enslaved people they trafficked as merchandise. But I also learned that many Americans do not realize that a domestic slave trade existed in the U.S. at all. Mentioning my research to others repeatedly provoked questions about Africa, not...
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Attempts To Upend Viewers’ Notions Of What It Meant To Be Enslaved ‘The Underground Railroad’
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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Attempts To Upend Viewers’ Notions Of What It Meant To Be Enslaved ‘The Underground Railroad’

Speaking on NPR’s Fresh Air, Barry Jenkins, the director of “The Underground Railroad,” noted that “before making this show … I would have said I’m the descendant of enslaved Africans.” “I think now that answer has evolved,” he continued. “I am the descendant of blacksmiths and midwives and herbalists and spiritualists.” As a scholar interested in how modern representations of enslavement shape our understanding of the past, I am struck by the ways Jenkins seeks to change the way viewers think about – and talk about – Black American history. In doing so, he takes the baton from scholars, activists and artists who have, for decades, attempted to shake up Americans’ understanding of slavery. Much of this work has centered on reimagining slaves not as objects who were acted upon, but as in...
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During An Epidemic In 1714 The Death Of Cicely, Young, Black And Enslaved Has Lessons That Resonate In Today’s Pandemic
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COVID-19

During An Epidemic In 1714 The Death Of Cicely, Young, Black And Enslaved Has Lessons That Resonate In Today’s Pandemic

What I believe to be the oldest surviving gravestone for a Black person in the Americas memorializes an enslaved teenager named Cicely. Over 1.4 million people have died from COVID-19 so far this year. How history memorializes them will reflect those we most value. CC BY-ND Cicely’s body is interred across from Harvard’s Johnston Gate in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She died in 1714 during a measles epidemic brought to the college by a student after the summer recess of 1713. Another tombstone in the same burial ground remembers Jane, an enslaved woman who died in 1741 during an outbreak of diphtheria, or “throat distemper.” A grave marker for an enslaved woman named Jane uses the archaic ‘1740/1’ Julian calendar notation to denote her death in early 1741. Nicole Maskiell, CC BY-ND When dise...
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Enslaved people’s health was ignored from the country’s beginning, laying the groundwork for today’s health disparities
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Enslaved people’s health was ignored from the country’s beginning, laying the groundwork for today’s health disparities

Some critics of Black Lives Matter say the movement itself is racist. Their frequent counterargument: All lives matter. Lost in that view, however, is a historical perspective. Look back to the late 18th century, to the very beginnings of the U.S., and you will see Black lives in this country did not seem to matter at all. Foremost among the unrelenting cruelties heaped upon enslaved people was the lack of health care for them. Infants and children fared especially poorly. After childbirth, mothers were forced to return to the fields as soon as possible, often having to leave their infants without care or food. The infant mortality rate was estimated at one time to be as high as 50%. Adult people who were enslaved who showed signs of exhaustion or depression were often beaten. As a profe...
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