Blog #2

Slavery, one way or another, is always surrounding us. Granted, it might not be visible to the naked eye but through certain conditions and ways of addressing it, slavery will always be around us. Many races experienced slavery living in America and were definitely not the last to. What may have started as something that would eventually quickly be "destroyed", slavery instead grew into a way of life. Many individuals (mostly in the South) incorporated slavery into their daily lives. Wars even broke up due to slavery which clearly shows how important this issue has on our society. And yet, society always tends to have a different view regarding what slavery is and how to stop it. What began as an indentured servant developed into the slavery that we all know. It began similar to the domino effect and how just one thing, just one tiny idea can trigger something that can last a lifetime.

In America's history there is not a time when slavery was no woven into their society. In fact, it was viewed differently than it is today. Granted, some slaves had certain "advantages" when it came to their masters but overall, it is nothing to be proud of. But what really started it? Was it the fact the the Europeans were lazy? Was it that they simply just need help? Or was it the idea of having control over someone that caused the idea of slavery to be so tempting? What ever the true reason behind it was, it has been a major part of building American history. In the beginning, the indentured servant really had nothing to do with their race. It was a fair system (or so it seems compared to the rest) but then, why not have someone who you can pay very little to and will do a full day's work? From there, eventually the idea of African American slaves came into progress. In fact, once slave owners had their needed slaves, they put them to work mostly in the agriculture industry. Slaves were to do the jobs that they were told without going against their masters' wishes. This caused many slave owners to feel a sense of great power that only fueled the fire. These slave owners eventually sold, traded and bought many African American slaves. Overall, these slaves were building and helping the economic system. The slave owners depended on them and viewed these slaves as nothing but stupid and non-human like objects. Many slaves were treated with harsh punishments and women were used for sexual favors or to simply reproduce more slaves. Clearly, these slaves were not treated as human beings just the Native Americans in their own different way.

The laws that followed only allowed these slave owners to have more power of their slaves. By indicating that African American slaves would be treated more severely for the same crime a white man did only showed how the division between the two races was growing. In fact, this affected everyone even if you were a slave, slave owner or just a citizen minding their own business. When laws are passed stating certain actions or ways of living regarding slaves, it deals with everyone in their daily lives. No one during this time could ignore the slavery because it was everywhere. Including in newspapers which slaves were not allowed to read. Ironically enough, a law was passed in North Carolina which stated that, "any free person, who shall here after teach, or attempt to teach, any slave within the State to read or write...shall be liable to indictment in any court of record in this State having jurisdiction thereof, and upon conviction, shall, at the discretion of the court...be fined not less than one hundred dollars...and if a free person of color, shall be fined, imprisoned, or whipped...not exceeding thirty-nine lashes" . Clearly, it shows the unjust and unfair treatments that slaves experienced.

For slavery to start ending, many people began to realize how cruel these slaves were being treated and that things really needed to stop. Famous Black Nationalist and individuals such as Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglas and Martin Delaney helped many to see their views regarding these issue. This helped caused awareness not only to white and black slaves, but also to those that were free in American society. The ideal that everyone is treated equally regardless of race, age and gender was necessary for it to end. This idea was fought through a Civil War and many (mostly in the North) were against slavery in their states. Overall, the idea of White and African Americans fighting together rather than against one another was a key factor in helping to end slavery.

But, even today there is still social control in our daily lives. The poor versus the rich is one that affects basically everyone in this economy. The poor are staying poor while the rich are getting richer. As hard as many individuals try to get themselves out of the poverty that they're in, it is very difficult because the rich have certain systems that keeps these people under the poverty line because the rich need the poor to make more money. In fact, there are millions more people in the lower class area than there are in the higher class so how come the rich have the most power? What about even in agriculture today with the Mexican Americans? Granted, they also have had protests to fight for their rights but, with the way the farming system is, these Mexican Americans find themselves back into the cycle they do not want to be in. Overall, the urge to have power or to basically obtain it will always be an urge that any individual will have. It is how they go about it that determines what the outcome will be. This is not only in America anymore because other countries have their own sense of social control over their people. It is a world wide phenomenon and eventually needs to be stopped. How to go about it? Not so sure. Maybe, just maybe, the millions and millions of people being controled will step up, fight hard for what they want and bring a sense of peace to the system. Just maybe.

Blog #1

When one often wonders about the first "Americans", many seem to think about the European settlers who started from scratch on these lands and built their new lives here. But, rarely do many people talk about the Native Americans, the ones who were here in the very beginning. The Native Americans did not ask for these settlers to stumble across their land and stay but, with the British settlers holding the attitudes they possessed, they felt otherwise. The Native Americans lived a different lifestyle than the settlers which caused their cultures to clash. But, who's culture is the best? This similar scenario was present with the Irish and just like the Native Americans, both were considered "savages".

The Native Americans had not only a different lifestyle but, they also had different ways of confronting these settlers. Both sides did not want to change for the other which caused many reasonings for violence to be used. In fact, the Native Americans differed greatly from the settlers in also their physical appearance. Unlike the blond hair and white-skinned men that came onto their land, these tribes had a much darker skin color along with their straight hairstyles that were judged by these settlers. Also, even the way that the two sides harvested and prepared their meals determined what was civilized to the settlers and what was not along with the clothing that each tribe wore. Because of their drastic differences, the British settlers felt that these Native Americans needed to be educated and "transformed" into the European culture.

But, things did not go as planned. The Native Americans appreciated what they have accomplished as a society and therefore felt that the British settlers were invading their land. In their eyes, the settlers should be the ones trying to fit into Native American culture. At first, there was semi peace in that the Indians helped the settlers adjust to the new land but, soon after the British settlers felt that because they were setting up towns and having a "real" society, that the Native Americans should do the same. And so many of these motives ended in violence and murdered many, many lives.

Even today, there is an interest in these Native Americans because of how they stand out from many other cultures. In movies and television shows they are often portrayed as magical creatures and yet at the same time exhibit wild behaviors that the white culture would never show. Also, many sport teams use Native Americans as a mascot, not a human being. In schools there rarely is ever any discussion about the mass murders of these Native Americans which results in this fake perspective that many children and adults today have of them. I feel that this should be taught more at an earlier age and how trying to get someone to change their lifestyle for yours is completely wrong. If the United States is in fact the "melting-pot", why did the settlers not incorporate their lifestyles along with the Native Americans? Overall, the first Americans were brutally murdered, stripped of their land and culture and turned into mythical creatures who now represent mascots for sport teams.