One idea that the Anderson and Stewart textbook mentions that I found particularly interesting is the irony in the fact that the United States was fighting for freedom, while oppressing it for Africans (Stewart & Anderson, 63). It seems backwards that colonists were escaping unjust practices imposed by England, but enslaving Africans and taking away rights such as voting and owning property. One of the woes they were attempting to escape was religious persecution, a form of identity, while stripping away the identities of the Africans they were enslaving. In fact, in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Barracoon, she chronicles how Kossula’s name got changed and “Westernized” to Cudjo when he was taken from Africa to the United States. This shows that Africans were not even allowed to maintain their names when they were taken from their homes. Even more, they were branded as if they were animals, which suggested that they belonged and were to be submissive to their masters.
Colonists even went as far to not allow Africans to fight for their new country’s freedom when they were entangled in the Revolutionary War. However, eventually General George Washington came around and permitted free Blacks to engage in the War (Stewart & Anderson, 63). It is interesting that America yearned immensely to gain independence from England, yet would not allow for all able bodied people to join. The dichotomy between Whites being authorized to enlist and all Blacks originally lacking this opportunity is most likely due to the consequences after the war. If Blacks were permitted to fight for America’s freedom, they would most likely expect to gain the same independence that the colonists would receive after the war. That would consequently eliminate the work force utilized to boost the country and its economy as there would be less people tending to the cash crops and building the railroads.
Overall, there is a contradiction in the actions of colonists as they took away human and civil liberties away from Africans, but relentlessly withstood England to gain back their own liberties. This topic interested me as it was a new perspective to previous knowledge that I had. America often boasts that it is melting pot of many cultures, yet has a history of stripping beliefs from others. Not only were Africans stripped of their culture, but so were the Native Americans. In fact, schools were made with the intention of changing the Indian culture and making them become more “American”. In these schools, they often tried to force the children to change how they dressed and diminish their language. However, many people often overlook the unjust treatment of other cultures and regard America as a country who not only fought for their freedom and triumphed, but gladly extend it to anybody on their soil.
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