Elizabeth Rockett
October 15, 2014
HIST 205: Slavery in the United States
Reaction Paper 2
Throughout
the American colonies, slavery was a staple commodity that enabled the United States
to have economic stability and international success. Slavery was a powerful institution that benefitted
“white” America and was embedded into all facets of life. The American colonies
manifested a normative culture through the creation of policies, laws, etc.,
that excluded African Americans and perpetuated the institution of slavery. Historian
David Waldstreicher examines the institutionalization of slavery through the
founding documents of the United States. Waldstreicher analyzes the use of language
and the messages embedded in the Constitution that allowed the government to
regulate the institution of slavery. This regulation dehumanized the slaves and
continued the process of commodification.
As the power of language continued to dehumanize the slaves and the
perpetuation of the institution continued, the creation of an oppositional
culture emerged. The Africans created an
oppositional culture that allowed them to survive and gain control. Historians
Charles Joyner and Sterling Stuckey highlight how the creation of a slave
society motivated the slaves to form an oppositional culture in order to make
sense of the world around them. In particular, Joyner and Stuckey examine the
role of religion in the creation of an African America culture in a slave
society. In short, Waldstreicher, Joyner and Stuckey highlight how the creation
of policies and laws perpetuated the institution of slavery while the African
Americans rejected the “normative” culture and created a culture that gave them
space to gain agency.
America was
founded on the message of freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the institution of slavery. As the
American colonies were fighting for freedom, they were also participating in
the enslavement of African Americans. The relationship between slavery and
freedom is often overlooked and this decoupling blinds our country from
understanding how central slavery was in the narrative of American Freedom.[1] The
Founding Fathers strategically crafted documents that centered on the message
of freedom while also condoning the enslavement and commodification of
individuals. David Waldstreicher presents a compelling argument as he
deconstructs the Constitution as a document that is centered on the governing
of slavery as the chief economic engine. For instance, Waldstreicher
acknowledges that the absence of the word slavery was a rhetorical device that
was a calculated and deceptive tool to silence the controversy surrounding the
institution. Waldstreicher articulates that, “the silences [the institution of
slavery] are not absences: they had meanings that were understood and debated.”[2] The absence of slavery was a strategic
decision that silently acknowledged the perpetual institution. The crafted
language allowed the founders to address the paradox of freedom and slavery
without addressing the immorality of brutality of slavery
Waldsteicher expands on his
argument by providing concrete examples on ways in which the Constitution
governed slavery. For example, in the Constitution’s fourth article, issues of
regulating property were addressed. The Founding Fathers managed to address the
regulation of property while also regulating enslaved human beings otherwise
considered human property. Waldstreicher argues that, “by making rules to
protect property across sates lines, as any federal government had to do, the
framer could not help but regulate slavery.”[3] The
government used language and calculated messages to govern slavery and limit
slaves from obtaining freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
As the
Founding Fathers continued to commodify African American slaves and limit their
access to freedom, slaves had to find a way to regain agency. Historians
Charles Joyner and Sterling Stuckey analyze how the slaves managed to find a
sense of belonging and create an oppositional culture that helped them survive.
The construction of African American culture empowered slaves to form a sense
of community, produce collective solidarity and gain freedom.[4] African
American culture created a space that allowed slaves to express their humanity
and identity through dance, music, culture, family, and religion. Joyner and
Stuckey acknowledge the rendering of an invisible institution. Joyner explains
that, “the slaves’ spiritual life was largely hidden from white observation.
Often the slave preachers held services apart from the whites without their
knowledge.”[5]
The creation of the invisible institution or religious space allowed the slaves
to manifest an alternative narrative of faith that crafted a religion of the
oppressed. This religion of the oppressed produced a sense of belonging that
African Americans could identify with and trust that God was on their side. The
use of biblical stories like Exodus enabled the slaves to view themselves as
the “chosen people”. They had an identity to embody and live for. Sterling
Stuckey echoed this sentiment when he stated that, “what is true of black
African culture is true of any culture rich in artistic and spiritual content:
intiation into it in youth guarantees its presence in consciousness and to a
considerable extent in behavior for a lifetime.”[6]
This oppositional culture provided slaves the place to build an identity and
come to understand their position in society.
As the
construction of African American culture continued to render space for slaves,
York, Clark’s slave exemplifies how individuals have to navigate both cultures.
During the Lewis and Clark expedition, York was forced to code switch between
the “normative” white culture and the indigenous people’s culture. Throughout
the journey, he was labeled a slave while he was revered in his interactions
with the indigenous people. Poet Frank Walker eloquently expresses that York
acknowledged that “I takes all the power the red man gives to me/on account a
my blackness/an place it at my Capt.’s feet/ making him more powerful in they
eys.”[7] In
this instance, York was given power in an oppositional culture but he knew he
would loose this power within the mainstream culture. He was forced to code
switch and give the power to the white man. He was forced to acknowledge a
culture that limits his identity to property. Every slave was forced to
negotiate both cultures and code switch as they traveled between spaces. The
construction of an oppositional culture empowered African Americans to fight for
their humanity while trying to produce more space in the mainstream culture.
African American culture empowered the slaves to survive and gave purpose to
their life.
[1] Charles McKinney, “Slavery
and the Constitution” (lecture, Rhodes College, Memphis,TN, October 2, 2014)
[4] Charles McKinney, “A Lift of
their own: The Roots of African American Culture” (lecture, Rhodes College,
Memphis,TN, October 9, 2014)
[5] Charles Joyner, “Believer I Know: The Emergence of
African-American Christianity” in African-American Christianity: Essays in
History, 18-46, ed. Paul E. Johnson, Vol 63, No.3 (London, England: Oxford
University Press, 1996) 27.
[6] Sterling Stuckey, “How Africans Preserved their Culture:
Culture as Spirit” in Major Problems in African American History, 128-140,ed.
Thomas C. Holt and Elsa Barkley Brown Vol 1. (Boston, MA: Houghton Miffin,
2000), 138.
[7] Frank X Walker, Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York
(Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 2004), 52.
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