Elizabeth Rockett
September 30, 2014
HIST 205: Slavery in the United States
Reaction Paper
Slavery is
a violent and perpetual institution that is woven into the fabric of history.
Throughout the Gold Coast and the Americas, slavery was the bedrock that drove
the economy. It was embedded into all facets of life. Individual human beings
were forced into an institution that striped them of their humanity and forced
them to become a commodity. This process
of commodification was a profit-driven practice that violently scaled life down
to the biological self and robbed individuals’ of their culture, identity and
even their humanity. Historians Stephanie Smallwood and Peter Kolchin
effectively present how the economy and other social constructions such as race
and class continued to perpetuate the institution and created a society that
was built on the basis of inequality. In addition, Smallwood and Kolchin
demonstrate how the Africans created an oppositional culture that allowed them
to survive and gain a sense of agency and control. Even when every institution
was created to deny Africans the ability to understand their role in society,
they were able to hold on to their humanity and survive within a slave society.
In short, Smallwood and Kolchin highlight how institutions enable the
commodification of humans while Africans did everything to reject the “normative”
culture and strive to gain agency through their own culture.
In order to
understand the drastic impact that slavery had on the world, Stephanie Smallwood
emphasizes the role the economy played in the commodification of humans during
the transatlantic slave trade. The economy is a vital aspect of society that
shapes every institution and how they function in the world. Since the economy
was fueling slavery, policies and companies were created to benefit the slave
trade. For example, Smallwood breaks down the complexity of the slave trade by
understanding the role of the craftsmen who built the slave ship. Ship
craftsmen had to build vessels that accommodated human cargo. This need created
jobs and allowed the ship crew to work and participate in the economic system. This
participation in the economy allowed these men to make a substantial living
while also reinforcing the institution of slavery. Smallwood further explains
that, “the business of the Atlantic market in Africa, in other words, was the
production not of bonded laborers but of human commodities-units of
merchandise.”[1]
The economy forced the Africans to become a unit- a measure of profit. Their
humanity was jeopardized. Their worth was based on their monetary value. These
Africans lost all sense of control and were placed in a society that viewed
them as objects.
As the
economy continued to control all aspects of society, Kolchin exhibits how the
commodification of humans was embedded into the American society. Once slaves
endured The Middle Passage, they were welcomed by a slave society that
violently oppressed people of color. Africans filled the labor needs and were
considered another profit making commodity. White Americans were socialized to
believe that Africans were in fact not human. The institution of slavery shaped
the American culture. Every institution was created to “other” the slaves while
justify the physical and mental violence brought upon them. The economic
successes in America influenced how white America understood the role of
slavery. For instance, Kolchin argues that, “the
South developed as a true slave society, in which slavery served as the bedrock
of the economy and of the social order”[2]
The social order of the American colonies was bound by the demands of the
economy. The economic system defined everything and the slaves were just part
of the system. They were a monetary value that was considered disposable.
This perception of slavery is
present in the policies and the construction of race in the Americas. Kolchin
strongly emphasizes that, “it is highly significant that the English saw
Africans as blacks and themselves as white.”[3]
Not only was American society influenced by the economy, but was constructed
with a conception of race. Racial differences helped justify the institution of
slavery and the dehumanization of individuals. There was a visible distinction
that allowed white America to validate the culture they lived in. Historian
Winthrop Jordan validates this argument when he states that the majority of
people believed that slaves were innately and naturally inferior to the white
man.[4]
The construction of race reinforced the institution of slavery and perpetuated
the use of forced labor in the economic system.
As the
economy and the institution of slavery influenced society, Africans had to find
a way to regain agency and hold on to their humanity. Smallwood analyzes how the Africans managed to
find a sense of belonging and create an oppositional culture that helped them
survive. Even before the slaves arrived in the Americas, the Africans were
trying to make sense of the world around them. They were struggling to
understand the violence inflicted on them. Smallwood eloquently demonstrates
how the Africans held on to their humanity during the horrific Middle Passage.
As the Africans were brutally forced into captivity, they struggled to survive
and find a sense of purpose. They strived to gain agency and create a community
on the ship. Smallwood explains that, “the only means to survive in this realm
was to divine a means to explain it, to define and delimit it.”[5] The slaves needed to make sense of their
position by subjectively explaining their existence and relying on each other
to survive. They could never loose their humanity and used their worldview to
shape their sense of belonging and making sense of their reality.
Once the
slaves arrived to the Americas, the creation of an oppositional culture was
necessary for the slaves to survive. Similar to how the Africans survived on
the slave ships, they needed to understand their new reality. The Africans had
to remain resilient and hold on to their own culture. This allowed Africans to
gain agency and reject mainstream culture. The slaves used music, food,
religion and all different outlets to express their culture and sense of
belonging. Since every institution denied them access to resources, they had to
new ways to demonstrate agency and exercise their humanity.
Slavery is
a coercive and violent institution that is embedded into the history of the
American society. Smallwood and Kolchin
effectively explain how the economy constructed a world that reaped the
benefits of slavery for centuries. America gained economic power through the
institution of slavery. As Smallwood and Kolchin expand on the complexity of
slavery, they present a micro level analysis that attempts to provide a voice
to the millions of slaves that were not allowed to share their story. Through
the resilience of the slaves, the institution of slavery did not fully stripe
them of their humanity.
[1] Stephanie E Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora (Cambridge,
Massachusetts: Harvard Press University, 2007). 82.
[3] Ibid,14.
[4] Winthrop D. Jordan, “The Mutual Causation” of Racism and
Slavery, in Major Problems in
African-American History, 91-98,ed. Thomas C. Holt and Elsa Barkley Brown Vol.1
(Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2000), 93.
No comments:
Post a Comment