Then in 1776 British came to North America to settle and make their living from sugar, cotton and tobacco plantations as the climate was perfect for the crops. Many forests were burnt and people kicked off their land to make way for plantations. As this line of work was very labour intensive and the British had not moved all the way across the Atlantic to slave their guts out to make a living, they imported slaves. The slaves were imported from Africa; they did what they were told to do by their masters and had no rights. They were exploited and were seen as mere labour possessions as they were looked upon as disorganised. The first state to import black slaves was Virginia, where tobacco was grown. The population at the time stood at 2,500,000 of which 500,000 were black slaves.
In 1783 the Declaration of Independence gave the former British colonies independence and was named the United States of America. Independence was wanted because the British that moved to America were still paying tax to London and were not receiving the benefits. The issue was equality and so the USA became a republic (they had no monarchy), but this declaration did not take the blacks into consideration because doing so would give them rights of representation.
In 1831 an educated black slave called Nat Turner arranged a revolt against slavery and resulted in 55 whites being killed, mainly women and children. Abolishing slavery was seen as a ‘necessary evil’ but also a ‘positive good’.
Nothing more happened until 1861when civil war broke out in the USA between the north and the south, over the issue of slavery. Those in the north disagreed with slavery and called for emancipation. Early nineteenth century northern states one by one abolished slavery on the grounds that it was immortal, and un-Christian. The south didn’t want to abolish slavery because it would damage their profitability and could hold potential hostility against the plantation owners. The reality scared the whites in the south because it was 90% blacks, especially in South Carolina and Mississippi. Those in the north never needed the help of slaves because their climate was different from the south, the crops they grew were like those in UK wheat, vegetables and the grazing of cows these were not very labour intensive so they did it themselves and looked down on the southerners exploiting the African slaves. Also the north was more industrialised whereas in the south they were more agriculturally inclined.
The war was also over the issue of politics, those in the south wanted to include the blacks in their population total to gain seats, to be able to dominate the government’s decisions. Of course the north disagreed and in turn wanted the southerners to pay taxes, as a way to continue using the blacks immorally for their own benefits. To settle this dispute they ended up comprising by allowing the south to include blacks in their population total at a ratio of 5 blacks to 3 whites. The very few natives were not included at all and were seen as ‘foreign nations’. The war lasted five years and ended in 1865 with the north’s victory and slavery was abolished.
As a result of this movement the slaves from the south left their plantations and moved north, where they thought they would be welcomed as the people had fought for their freedom. When they arrived, they suddenly found that they had been lead to believe the people in the north wanted everyone to be equals but this was not the case. The people in the north treated the slaves as second class citizens and gave them no rights. The slaves felt resentment towards the northerners for giving them false hope.
In 1882 East Asians were excluded from America by the Chinese Exclusion Act, but during the second half of the twentieth century numbers rose dramatically as a result of as relaxation of immigration restrictions and natural population increase.
Throughout the History of the USA there have always been five distinctive racial groups to which people fall into and accordingly determine how they are treated. The White Americans are placed at the top of the hierarchy, again within each group there are sub-groups. Even in the white group the favoured sub-group are those who are of British origin and are Protestants. Then come the Irish (Catholics), the Germans, the Scandinavians (Protestants), the Italians (Catholics), the Russians, polish and then the lowest of the white group the Jewish. The second highest group is the Asian Americans, which consist of the Chinese and Japanese Americans, but the Japanese are regarded as the higher class. This is because they are further educated and many can speak English whereas the Chinese cannot and it is known the USA favour English speaking people. Next down the hierarchy are the Hispanic Americans and the Black Americans they equally share third position. The Hispanics consist of those born in the USA and those that are immigrants. The Blacks are sub divided into those that are immigrants and those that are ex-slaves. Finally at the bottom of the hierarchy are the Native Americans which only consist of the Amerindians, who lived there before any Europeans had ever discovered the Americas.
The classification of different racial group’s importance by the US hierarchy system has caused many groups to treat those below them as inferior just as they are treated. Those being ill treated for example the Jews feel no problem when abusing blacks because they are even lower than them in importance. So it’s just a vicious circle where everyone is in constant conflict.
The US hierarchy does not simply state that the people placed in each group cannot succeed but just shows that they have to try harder than those higher to succeed. In the past a Jewish person may not have been allowed the right to go to university, whereas more recently in history it could just be that they might have to play down their religious beliefs or change their name to access the facilities of the region. Even in present day America many states are still very racist and treat non-white people as outsiders. Even white people in the cities have decided to move out, as a result of an increase in the Black and Hispanic population within the cities. Assimilation is a key factor to progression within the USA, meaning people have to become part of the American ‘melting pot’, in which nationalities and racial groups fuse into one.
Settlement in the USA was beneficial for some and not for others, because of the divisions of racial groups it has made it hard for some groups to live in peace and harmony. The institutional racism of the USA even at present makes life unstable and hard for many but I am optimistic that the future holds the key to equality for all citizens.
