An overwhelming number of people throughout the world consider slavery as one of the biggest mistakes that occurred in human history. The dramatic experience, when people of color were deprived of their freedom when they had to work for miserable salaries, and a lot of other injustices concerning them has produced a huge impact on many writers and scholars, who tried to find answers why this happened in our society. History professor Winthrop D. Jordan and Charles Johnson in their works tried to show their ideas why slavery became an Institution.
Charles D. Johnson in his work “Africans in America: America’s Journey Through Slavery” shows his vision of how the institution of Slavery appeared. From his point of view, slavery in Africa was an element of tribal culture. Nevertheless, tribal leaders treated slaves as a part of the community, which is just the opposite of how slaves were treated by colonists. When foreigners arrived to trade for slave labor, they did neglect conditions when they transported people of color on the ships to America. Such carelessness set the pattern for the slaves’ mistreatment in the United States. When slaves were delivered to the states, they were sold one by one. Their relationship ties did not care about anybody. This was also a starting point when double standards appeared between people within one country. Even when Africans gained, for instance, by participating in wars, this freedom was fake. They did not have the right to vote, they were pushed to living in “special” neighborhoods, their job opportunities were miserable. A lot of interesting points on the issue were developed by Winthrop D. Jordan. In his research paper “The White Man’s Burden” he works out theories of the Africans skin dark color origin. These theories contain vital information that helps us to understand how people of color started being viewed as slaves within a country. His second vital idea, why Africans were only slaves for white people, deals with the savage behavior exhibited by Africans. Europeans viewed Africans as beasts because of their behavior, manner of eating, and way of wearing clothes. Also, there were laws according to which intermixing of races was strongly prohibited. These were the reasons why white people treated people of color as the second class. And the last important thing which caused forming the institution of slavery for such a long period in the judgment of Winthrop D. Jordan is that once a black person became a slave his/her offspring also became a property of the owner.
To sum it up, the most important message written in the works of Winthrop D. Jordan and Charles Johnson shows us how the continuous and gradual suppression of the Africans in the colonies, United States and Europe led to a false statement in the mentality of white people that they are superior over the people of color. The Institution of slavery is a historical tragedy. Even today some people suffer racism. So, if we want bright lives for us and our children, we should learn this bitter lesson, assess its terrible results and eradicate the smallest conditions, which, in this or another way, promote racism.
Works Cited
Charles Richard Johnson, Patricia Smith. Africans in America : America’s Journey Through Slavery. USA: Harcourt Books, 1999.
Winthrop D. Jordan. The White Man’s Burden. Historical Origins of Racism in the United States. USA: Oxford University Press, 1974.