I didn’t learn the true history of black Americans when I was in school. I grew up in poverty in the segregated South during the civil rights era. I lived some of the history but was curious about the beginning. Black history month was dedicated to honoring a few well known black Americans. There were so many others who were unsung. They had stories to tell and share. I hungered to learn their stories and spent years researching the history of black Americans. It was important for me to connect the past to the present so we can have a better future. It was time to change the narrative by changing the narrators.
My parents didn’t own much but had some items they treasured. My dad served in WWII and my parents kept their treasures, books and papers in his footlocker. Years after they passed, I inherited the footlocker and its contents. My curiosity led me to a small, worn and tattered paperback book. I was excited to discover one of the treasures. The book was by C. Eric Lincoln and titled, The Negro Pilgrimage in America. The book was published in 1967 and gave a detailed history of a march that began almost 400 years ago. It chronicled the pilgrimage of black people from bondsman to responsible citizen. This detailed book had been exposed to the elements over the years and the musty pages fell apart while I was reading it. Not only did the author write about the history of slavery and segregation that I didn’t learn in school, he wrote about the accomplishments of black people throughout the Revolutionary period, in the military, and beyond. The author was an African American scholar, Navy veteran, and author of several other books. There are many historians and accounts of history; however, based on the author’s detailed research, I found his book fascinating.
It was exciting to travel back 400 years in time with the author. It was equally exciting to find a book my dad had obviously read many times. He claimed the book by signing his full name on top of the acknowledgment page. Some of the pages were turned downward at the top corners, indicating his stopping and starting points. I held that tattered book like it was a piece of gold. To me, it was better. It once belonged to my dad. He left a piece of unsung history. I decided to add a history section to my blog to provide information that was not taught in our school system.
According to Lincoln, the pilgrimage of black Americans began in the continent of Africa. The Europeans came to America in search of a new land and freedom. Africans were kidnapped and forced to come to America under conditions that denied them their basic humanity. They came as bondsmen and later enslaved persons. The children of West Africa and the children Europe were destined for separate roles in America. For the Europeans, America was the land of the free, equality and justice. For the African, America meant two hundred and fifty years of slavery. After the end of slavery, black Americans were shackled with slave codes and Jim Crow laws for another hundred years or more. I lived during the Jim Crow laws.
So, how was America or the New World discovered? In 1492, Pedro Alonzo Nino, black navigator of the Nina, reached the New World with Christopher Columbus. Many other black explorers were involved in the expeditions lead by Balboa, Cortez, Navarez, and the Jesuit-led French parties that explored parts of the Mississippi River and Canada. When I was in grade school, I learned that Christopher Columbus discovered America but didn’t know about Pedro Nino. I learned about Balboa’s expeditions but didn’t know there were black explorers involved.
As a child, I learned that Africans were kidnapped and brought to America as slaves but we didn’t know much about their history or culture. Lincoln wrote that most of the slaves sold in America came from West Africa. They were from a hundred tribes and a thousand villages. They were forced to march to the waiting ships, chained together in coffles. Europeans came to America in search of freedom and Africans came because their freedom was taken away. They were denied basic humanity. For black people, America meant two hundred and fifty years of living as enslaved people. Lincoln wrote that after slavery ended, there were social and moral factors that prevented black people from being truly free.
Many of the Africans held as slaves were from highly developed cultures. This was not significant to the colonists in America. The African’s political, artistic, economic, religious and linguistic experience was judged to be of no value in the New World. The slave masters ignored cultural and linguistic differences because it was not European. Many Africans practiced their native religion. Africans were prevented from practicing and developing their culture and the culture eventually died out. Their personal identity was shattered.
The author shared there are many misconceptions about the way slaves were acquired to supply the markets in the New World called America. The first English settlement was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. The English colonies were in desperate need of labor. Initially, Native Americans were enslaved but many died in the fields. The search for labor extended to poor white Englishmen. They were brought to the colonies as indentured servants or bondsmen. Many of them were convicted felons and eager to escape their homeland. They signed seven year contracts to serve as bondsmen in exchange for a passage to America. Oftentimes, they were forced to work additional years. When the supply of indentured servants dwindled, it became widespread practice to kidnap English men, women and children to be sold into bondage. The author noted that in 1619, twenty black people were purchased by the English colonists of Jamestown, Virginia to work as bondsmen. They were purchased from a Dutch warship that was docked at Jamestown. English law provided provisions for people who were baptized as Christians. Many people converted in hopes of gaining their freedom. Many black and white bondsmen became impatient for freedom and ran away from their masters. The white bondsmen were able to blend in with the colonists but the black bondsmen could not because of the color of their skin. The author wrote ” Fifty one years after the Jamestown venture, Virginia law abandoned attempts to bring white bondsmen to America. In 1667, another Virginia law repealed the earlier statue enfranchising black people who converted to Christianity. A new law provided that all bondsmen coming to Virginia by sea shall be slaves for their lives. In 1682, Virginia law reduced all non-Christians to permanent slave status.” The author wrote that it was not until the late 1700’s when Africans were taken from West Africa in large numbers and forced to work as enslaved people. This version may be debatable by historians but the author cited Virginia court records to support his statement.
The author explained some more interesting historical aspects of slavery that will be shared in the next blog post.
Francie Mae. December 6, 2020.
Reference
C. Eric Lincoln. November 1967. The Negro Pilgrimage In America. Bantam Pathfinder Books.