King Cotton
I am African- American. I come from
a background of European, Native American, but my dominant nationality is
African- American. Being African- American has its ups and downs. My ancestors
did have the brightest or happiest history. However, without their struggle I
would not be alive today.
During the 18th and 19th
century, as described in my textbook, North American was evolving into an Industrial
Society. This industrialization era consisted of a transformation of just using
agrarian approach of life to an era of using machine manufacturing. This
turnpike in history was the beginning of a lot of utilizing a lot of new
things: coal, Iron, steel, steam, but more importantly cotton. Iron was
important for creating the machines but steel was important for making them
sturdy. Steam was innovative for the use of transportation and energy
(steamboat, and steam engine), simply by mixing burning coal with boiling
water. But the most useful item in this era was cotton. This resource was great
for the making of clothing because it was cheap however the labor needed to
pick the crop from the ground was inexcusable.
Cotton was the key source for the
economy to thrive in the southern states of the United States. Some of the
locals would call it “gold”. However this crop was became a crucial piece in
what later became known as the “Second Middle Passage” for the African slaves
that has to harvest the crop. As one may recall the infamous Middle Passage of
the 1500’s until the late 1800’s that left, “At least 2 million Africans--10 to
15 percent” (1) dead, the thriving resource of cotton became a suspect in the
substantially equivalent “second Middle Passage”.
In order for cotton to be of any
use to anyone in the 19th century, there had to be someone to
harvest the crop. The demand for the product became prevalent when the
industrialization period brought forth machinery that could assist the workers
in the factories. The cheapest way to mass produce this crop was to enforce
slave labor. Slave labor consisted of people working against their will, for
little to no pay, and under the strict control of slave masters who had
complete control of their freedoms.
The 19th century did not
leave any happy memories in the eyes of my ancestors. For they were apart of
the “10-16 million people” who were brought here to fulfill the needs of
southern citizens and their economic desires. In 2015, those scars from the
brutal past of slavery have not healed. In fact we are still living in society
where our true calling has not been truly defined. Just as my African- American
ancestors became a component of the evolution of life in the United States, I
play apart in the outcome of my generation’s own future.
References
Digital History (2014). The Middle
Passage. Retrieved : 12 January 2014. Website http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3034
