Investigate the history of slavery and discuss the ways in which this history impacts contemporary society

Introduction

The history of slavery is not something new to the world, as researcher has made great effort to restructured the history and justifies the globe understanding. In general term, slave history is a heart paining history of the past that is affecting the present society. As we all know that slavery deprived people of race of human quality and made them feel isolated on the presence of natural character. Slavery was against the principle of liberty that United States of America great. On January 1st 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issues the emancipation of proclamation which leads to the country third civil war. The emancipation of proclamation declared that all people of color who are held as slave should be free in immediate effect. Though the emancipation proclamation did not end slavery completely in the country, it was limited in many ways, it only applicable to the state that had withdrawn from the union, leaving slave around the border state unaffected. This essay will be focus on investigating history of slavery as part of American history and discuss the ways in which this history impacts contemporary society.

Slavery is described as a situation whereby one or more people are owned as a property by another person called slave master and are under the control of the slave master. These slavery activities happened without the will of the so called slave. According to many authors, slavery is dated back to 17th century in North America when the Dutch and British brought people they invaded in Africa to Virginia. These black people from Africa arrive Virginia as indentured servant and not as slave. They are supposed to served their master for certain number of years. The slave was force to be taken away from their love one and never been allow to see their family again. They were made to work harder for the slave mastered and treated inappropriately because the slave master believe that the slave has no right as a slave. As it shown by many researcher, Slavery did not begin in United State, it was trace back to Egypt where people are detained for their inappropriate behaviors that are unacceptable in the society. Many families sell their child in order to pay back their loan, some exchange their children for cash which is called trade by batter. The beginning of slavery in United State can be drawn back to the days of Chesapeake Bay settlements. During this time, the slave were made to signed indenture contract that made passage way to the west. Mortality rate of the indenture slave was high. Despite the rate of mortality, the slave mastered use the contract signed by the slave as a means of training and up keeping of their farm.

In the profound years of slave arrival, Virginia did not have any rules and regulation regarding slavery. During this era, some slave was sentence in an attempt to escape service. In 17th century, Massachusetts became the first state to establish slave law by passing the Body of liberties which provide a number of legal bases of slavery (Bound, 2016). Massachusetts did not outlaw the following three bases of slavery which includes those that held by virtue of being captives of war, those sentenced to slavery authorities and those that sold themselves at their own volition to slavery. The idea of bringing slavery into law by State of Virginia and Massachusetts was the beginning of years where African are subject and referred to as slave. Slaves are differentiated in two ways depending when they arrive United states. Slaves who arrive before Virginia and Massachusetts slave law, were referred to as indenture servants, and they are provided with accommodation during the indenture period. Indenture servant are meant to serve their masters for seven years, then they can be free and come with their own ideas of incorporation. As a result of the treatment indenture servant receives during their serving period, they are allowed to participate in all kind of trade and business. Indenture servant are given landed property by their masters as a form of appreciation as soon as their contract expired. It totally different to the slaves that are docked after enactment of slave law. These slave are sanction whenever they made an attempt to escape.

American Emancipation proclamation lead to the announced and acceptance of men of color into the America army and navy which enable the people who are free from oppression to be able to free their fellow slave from been oppressed. As the civil war over, it was estimated that over 200, 000 men of color soldiers had fought for the Union and liberation of another slave (Baptist, 2014). There is no way or no how we are going to write about slave history without mention the first martyrs to the cause of American patriotism Crispus Attucks who was killed by British soldier during the Boston Massacre of 1770 and believed to be the first casualty of American Revolution. As history unveiled by bibliography . com, “ As British control over the colonies tightened, tensions escalated between the colonists and British soldiers. Attucks was one of those directly affected by the worsening situation. Seamen like Attucks constantly lived with the threat they could be forced into the British navy, while back on land British soldiers regularly took part-time work away from colonists. On March 2, 1770, a fight erupted between a group of Boston rope makers and three British soldiers. Conflict was ratcheted up three nights later when a British soldier looking for work reportedly entered a Boston pub, only to be greeted by furious sailors, one of whom was Attuck” s.

According to new Orleans official guide,

“ The 19th of June is known as Juneteenth, an African-American holiday begun at the end of slavery days. Its origins are Texan, not Louisianan, but Juneteenth has long had strong roots in the South and has since spread all over the country as a time for African-Americans to commemorate their freedom and accomplishments. President Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, which granted freedom to slaves in Confederate states, on New Year’s Day in 1863. Word didn’t reach the African-American slaves of Galveston, Texas, until June 19, 1865, when a force of two-thousand Union soldiers arrived and informed them of their freedom. Although news indeed did travel slowly in those days, two and a half years is a long time; historians suspect Texas slaveholders knew of the proclamation and chose not to free their slaves until they were forced to. The African-Americans of Galveston began an annual observance of Juneteenth which over the years spread to other areas and grew in popularity. Early Juneteenth celebrations were picnics at churches and in rural areas with barbecues, horseback riding, fishing, and more. The early 20th century saw a weakening of the holiday’s observance due to African-American migration to urban centers, the national celebration of Independence Day just a few weeks later, and the preference of white historians to emphasize the Emancipation Proclamation over Juneteenth as a date to mark the end of slavery. Although some activists objected that holiday’s associations with slavery were too backward-looking, Juneteenth’s visibility rose again during the Civil Rights Era of the 1950s and 60s, and its resurgence continues all over the country. Like elsewhere, in New Orleans African-Americans celebrate Juneteenth with barbecues and picnics, with family and church gatherings that strengthen community bonds. Other events include jazz concerts and speaking engagements emphasizing African-American empowerment, education, and achievement. To participate in Juneteenth festivities, check listings in local newspapers or online as the next June 19th approaches”.

Slaves are traced back to African as their continent of origin, African believes in traditional rituals to goddess before the advent of Islam and Christianity. African with distinct religions had some form of ceremony as a means of worship to their goddess, it just unfortunate that African religious lack written history due to lack of documentations. The lack of written history made some researcher came into conclusion that Africans are pagan before the invasion of European into Africa. Roboteau, (2004) is his work opined that Africans are not pagan before advent of Europe, the religion in African lack documentation and vary from region to region. Slaves were first introduced to other religion such as Christianity when they are sold to slave master. Anglican Church is the first missionary that tried to introduce Christianity to the slave but there is some resistance as the slaves still have strong believes on goddess that they worship. Some of the slaves’ reject introduced religion and preserved their African traditional beliefs or keep their Islamic faith. While some other slave accepted Catholicism a different form of Christianity. Evangelical Protestantism became the most predominant religion among the slave at the time. Slaves conversion experience became important in their religious life. Slaves are made to understand that the only way to salvation is through that “ Lonesome Valley”. Some slave was faced with difficult punishment when they are caught attending prayer meeting. Some slaves are flogged to the extent that their back pickled because they are caught preaching at a prayer meeting service. At these period of hardship, slaves use different method to avoid been caught by their master. They met in secluded places like gully, ravines, hush harbors.

As it was made known that Catholic Church is one of the biggest religious group among the Christians but it face some difficulties with the establishment of Protestantism. Catholic Church has huge follower and large number of members all over the world which made it easier to enjoyed high recognition among other Christian’s churches. Moreover, during feudalism in England, some catholic member moved out of England to other part of the world in other not been prosecuted for their religion. Some relocated to Africa while some moved to the southern part of the world to continue spreading their ideologies. Catholic ideologies are highly accepted in some part of the world if not all over the world. Its head quarter remained in Rome with dioceses everywhere in the world. However, Catholic Church has factions of different community that have excluded their wealth and accepted more discipline life style. Catholic are known with their humanitarian service among the poor, riches, and ideologies that preached against inequalities and unjust society (Vidmar, 2014).

Health care discrimination began during the slavery era. The slaves are made to work in environments that are not accommodated without providing health care for them. As history unveiled, the slaves are made to worked on the heat and humidity of the south that created major health disaster for them and their entire generation. There working environment are unsanitary, inadequate nutrition and unstopped hard labor made slaves to be prone to diseases. The slave master refused to treat slaves of illness and forced them to work they are seriously ill. Malaria are common disease for the slaves, child mortality was high, African women are force to sex without providing them safeguard to protect themselves, black men are powerless to rescued their women from been rape. Even slavery is over; we can still sense discrimination in our present society. Despite introduction of affordable care act by the present government, we can sense inequality and discrimination in health care system. As a result of this inequalities and discrimination, thousands of people who remain uninsured because they cannot afford their premium or not qualify for the plan. Adults from the lower socioeconomic side of the divide are likely to experience mental illnesses, heart diseases, obesity and even high blood pressure. Most of these diseases are associated with poor nutrition. The reason behind this is that the poor will only prioritize physiological needs before psychological needs and may actually find a gymnasium too expensive (Weir, 2013). United State health care system is unique compare to other industrialized countries. The health care system in America is not uniform and no universal coverage among citizen. Not until recently, the government mandated every citizen to get health care coverage. Expert describe America health care system as hybrid as a result of it operation as a single payer national health insurance or multi payer universal health insurance fund. In united State, health care is finance with public money but they are delivered by private company, which make it difficult to be evenly distributed among the citizen.

Despite uneven distribution of health care among citizen, it cost continuing going up without exemplary reason. As there is no major explanation for increase health care cost, the expert has listed the following contributing factors which are technologies cost and drug prescription, chronic disease, and administrative expensive. As at 2014, majority of United State citizen are able to acquired health care coverage even it mandated, premium as been the subject of discussion in recent time. Premiums are rising and qualities of the insurance policies are failing, deductibles are fast rising. Between 2010 and 2015, deductible has for single coverage have risen by 67%.

According to Stephen, (2015)

“ Considerations of health and well-being as fundamental human rights have always been at the heart of serious attempts to understand the experience and history of enslavement in the Atlantic world. As a profoundly oppressive, destabilizing, and deeply exploitative social system—and a toxic method of utilizing human labor—slavery in the Americas guaranteed negative health outcomes and enduring health problems in all of its geopolitical and historical contexts. Breaking down core elements of the enslavement process and the oppressive governance and exploitation of slave life and labor highlights how the system relentlessly undermined physical, psychological, and emotional health. The initial acts of capture, incarceration, human commoditization, and forced transportation all weakened health. So too did the separation of families and disruption of communities and being held in captivity under constant surveillance, with labor coerced and closely supervised. Indeed, the health of the enslaved was constantly threatened by the rigid regulation of all aspects of daily life. Slave health was also vulnerable to the use and constant threat of violent punishment, dangerous and debilitating occupations, as well as environmental exposure. Sexual interference and abuse were major assaults on slave health. Poor housing and sanitation and inadequate food, water, and clothing also put enslaved people at risk of a range of debilitating diseases. Throughout the history of their enslavement, however, Africans and their New World descendants vigorously resisted the destructive effects of oppression and pursued a struggle for health reliant upon their own knowledge, practices, and resources, absorbing new ways of healing through encounters and cross-cultural exchanges with white Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century abolitionist activists recognized slavery’s dire health impact, which they brought to light in their campaigns and writings. Late-20th-century public health discourse encouraged policymakers, governments, and health professionals to consider a broader range of determinants beyond the role of individual behaviors and the health-care system—especially structural, material, and psycho-social factors—in an effort to fully evaluate and improve the health status of population groups. Historians of slavery in the Americas have adopted innovative and interdisciplinary approaches in exploring the health histories of enslaved peoples, with increased availability of sources in the digital age and new collaborations all promising ever more robust, holistic, and systemic analyses. This article examines key features of the rich and diverse historiography of slavery, health, and medicine in the contexts of the transatlantic slave trade and in North America, where the literature is particularly strong. The article then turns attention to studies of slave health and medicine in the Caribbean and Brazil, before concluding with consideration of slavery’s impact on emotional, psychological, and environmental health”.

In conclusion, the history of slavery is not something new to the world, as researcher has made great effort to restructure the history and justifies the globe understanding. Slavery is described as a situation whereby one or more people are owned as a property by another person called slave master and are under the control of the slave master. These slavery activities happened without the will of the so called slave. Slavery is still present in our society and system encourages it to be ongoing. Resource are control by few people and inequalities remain, people are been paid less than what they work for, even been threatening of deportation because they are illegal immigrant while company executives are earning high amount of salaries with huge benefit. Health care is publicly finance but distributed by private which made it to continue unevenly distributed, some high rank personnel continue to retain power, loot public fund at citizen expense.