The Untold Story

There is a huge list of names that the United States citizens give much praise for the foundation of the United States.  You have Christopher Columbus who is said to be the founder of the New World.  You have the founding fathers, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin, who are praised for creating the structure for America’s democracy.  You have Lewis and Clark who are given credit for their expedition across the western portion of the United States.  The list of names goes on and on, however the list doesn’t give any credit to a majority of the individuals who are responsible for the shaping of the United States. These individuals are African Americans.  Through the readings from Major Problems in African-American History, Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York, Slavery’s Constitution, and African American Voices, insight is given on just how large of a role Africans played in the shaping and founding of America. 

            When reading the United States Constitution, it is very interesting in the way that it was crafted because there is not a single moment that the word slavery is mentioned.  This was no accident, but rather it was a carefully thought out plan from the founding fathers.  This allowed a lot of wiggle room and allowed white citizens to own a slave without it going against the Constitution.  Slavery was the status quo during this time, and to go against slavery would be to against the United States.  Slavery was seen as a benefactor to the economic success of the United States, and no matter how wrong one thought slavery was, those who benefited from the institution of slavery were not going to go against it.  It’s quite fascinating that a document, which was created with the thought of democracy for the people of the United States, did not change ones’ mentality to practice freedom and equality for all people.

            History textbooks do a great job of keeping certain voices and events silent.  The journey of Lewis and Clark is known to be own of the greatest expeditions in American history.  They traveled all throughout Western America, looking for new land for the citizens to expand across.  The history books tell us that there were only three individuals who were part of this journey, and those people are Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and Sacagawea.  These three individuals are only part of the story, for there is a large group of individuals who are missing from the story, those people being African Americans.  We are given a whole new perspective of this expedition, as we are able to see the journey through the eyes of York.  Frank Walker publishes a series of poems that narrate the thoughts and perspective of York, a personal slave of William.  Throughout the text, you see York struggling and wrestling with the issues of family, religion, love, freedom, and his place as a slave. 

            One of the largest impacts that African Americans had on the United States was creating and preserving a new culture.  Through the acts of commodification, white slave owners tried numerous times to strip the identity of African individuals.  Each attempt failed as Africans used numerous tactics to prove their humanity.  Though taken away from their homeland, Africans did not leave their culture behind, but rather they took the ideas of American culture, mixed it with their own culture, and they were able to create a new, shared culture.  Christianity was supposed to be used as a tactic to assimilate African Americans, but it backfired as African Americans mixed it with their own culture and created different denominations such as Baptist and Methodist.  They created a shared language to use throughout their community.  Along with the creation of a new language, African Americans also created new genres of music and performed different type of spiritual rituals.  The creation of this new culture allowed for African Americans to grow stronger as they were able to form their own community.

            American history is usually written and told from the perspective of the white man.  It’s not that the history, which is told from this perspective, is false, for in most cases it is not.  However, it does not tell the full story, therefore, it is not entirely true.  African Americans are to be given much credit for the founding and creation of the United States and its culture.  These readings break the silence, which holds so many secrets of America’s history.  Evidence of African American culture can be seen through different genres of music, different languages, and different denominations of Christianity that are still prevalent to this day.