Page 12 Portland Observer February 21, 1990
B lack H istory M onth • F ebruary 1 9 9 0
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1492 - 1500s
1492
1513
PEDRO ALONZO
NINO, pilot for
Columbus.
1517
Balboa's group
crossing Panama
had 30 blacks.
COLONIZATION and SLAVERY in AMERICA
1526
Bishop Las Casas
(Spain) said Span­
iards could import 12
Negroes each to
New World.
1538
First slave revolt in
what is now South
Carolina.
1539
ESTEVANICO (Littl
Stephen) led the
expedition which
discovered Arizona
and New Mexico.
1540
Blacks were with
DeSoto on his
journey to the
Mississippi.
1565
1562
The second settler in
Alabama was black
(from DeSoto’s
expedition)..
John Hawkins
carried slaves from
West Africa to
Spanish America.
Blacks were among
the group that
founded St. Au­
gustine, Florida.
THE LIFE OF A SLAVE IN THE COLONIES - 2,750,000 SLAVES IMPORTED IN 1600’s
SLAVES came from
Europe, Africa or
West Indies. Sold by
white slave traders
or by African cfhiefs
afterthey were
captured in wars.
They were trade for
trinkets. Slaves
would often jump
ship into shark-
infested waters
rather than be forced
into slavery.
RUNAWAY SLAVES often joined
Indians, some becoming their
slaves, some enjoying equality,
some becoming chiefs. Many
slaves traveled the "underground
railroad" to freedom In the north
and in Canada.
Slaves were
HANDCUFFED wrist
and ankle, crowded
on ships, often
unable to turn or
stand. MUCH
DISEASE - MUCH
DEATH.
Once in colonies
they were SOLD IN
MARKET. Families
were separated. By
1850 price was
about $1,200 per
man.
ABOLITIONISTS -- trying to help
slaves, Included speakers like ex­
slave FREDERICK DOUGLASS or
militant John Brown. Lincoln's need
for soldiers finally prompted the
Emancipation Proclamation.
Their RELIGION copied the
emotional qualities of local white
churches. The church became a
community center, the one place
for dignity identity and advance­
ment.
1600s
1619
1620
First cargo of slaves
for English America
came to Jamestown,
Virginia.
1638
WILLIAM TUCKER,
first black child born
and baptized in
English Colonies.
REVOLTS often
ended in disaster
because "Toms’
(blacks who tried to
gain favor with the
whites) passed on
information to their
masters.
The NOTION that
the slave was happy
or content in slavery
- was largely a myth
held by slave-holding
whites.
Anything that could make slaves
feel more DEPENDENT became a
means of controlling them. Slaves
were not allowed to sign contracts
so there was no legal marriage -
the father's role was minimized.
It cost $15-$50 a
year to feed and
clothe a slave. A
slave's life expec­
tancy was very
short.
Slaves lived at a
DISTANCE from the
"big house" in one-
room shacks. A
lucky slave might
have a trade
(blacksmith) or grow
a crop if he turned
over a percentage of
the harvest.
Most slaves worked
on PLANTATIONS -
Northern slaves and
lucky southern
slaves were house
servants. Slaves
were not generally
used in manufactur­
ing.
Slaves were not EDUCATED -
Their health was of some concern
to owners because they were
needed in the fields. Slaves
developed a false servility and
humor to hold back the use of the
whip against them.
At first, blacks had same STATUS
as INDENTURED SERVANTS -
and eventually gained freedom.
BUT by the end of the 17th century
slaveholders' rights were absolute.
COLONIZATION anti SLAVERY in AMERICA
1624
First public school
for Negroes and
Indians in Virginia.
By 1750 - 236,000
slaves out of a total
population of
1,171,000.
1641
First slaves came to
New England, most
as house servants,
grooms and foot­
men.
1645
Massachusetts
became first colony
to legalize slavery.
First American
slaveship - The
Rainbow.
1661
1662
First petition for
freedom granted to a
slave by New
Netherlands (New
York).
1664
1663
Virginia law said
children of slaves
are slaves.
First slave revolt in
colonial U.S. in
Gloucester, Virginia.
Maryland prohibited
intermarriage
between black men
and white women.
Other colonies
followed.
The AMERICAN Revolution anti the COTTON Revolution
7,000,000 slaves imported in the 1700's
ms
POST­
WAR
1783-
1793
1784
Many slaves freed
as a REWARD for
their military service.
1785
EDWARD GRIFFIN,
hero of the Revolu­
tion, given his
FREEDOM in North
Carolina.
Constitutional
Convention upheld
slavery in three
sections of its
writings.
" DAVID WALKER
born, first Negro
writer to openly
attack slavery.
1787
1789
Slavery outlawed in
all territory included
in Northwest
Ordinance.
* The African Free
School, first free
school, operated in
New York City.
JOSIAH HENSON,
abolitionist, born in
Maryland (a model
for "Uncle Tom").
1790
1791
Out of a total
population of
4,000,000 - 757,181
are Negro. Only
59,557 are free.
BENJAMIN BAN-
NEKER appointed
by Jefferson as
consultant on design
for Washington, D.C.
" Pennsylvania
abolitionists peti­
tioned Congress to
end slavery.
" Successful revolt
against French in
Haiti.
1792
Antoine Blanc
founded first
American Negro
order of Catholic
nuns.
1790
SAMUEL CORNISH
publisher, born in
Delaware - ap­
proached problem of
Negro by political
action.
1793
BENJAMIN LUNDY,
colonizationist, born
" Fugitive Slave-Law
passed by Congress
-- made it a criminal
offense to assist an
escaping slave.
AFRICAN AMERICAN REFLECTIONS
LOCAL W O RK S OF POETRY IN H O N O R OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH
REFLEXION...
Pioneer in the Labor Movement and Executive
Board Member of the AFL-CIO
I AM DETERMINED
by Sheku G. Kamara
I stand on the West Atlantic
looking across the beautiful horizon
wondering who on the other side might be
meditating pensively afar as I am
by Robin Marks
I want to
I will
I try to
I do
But it's hard
I continue
It hurts
I begin to like it
I learn to like it
It's my new Friend
It's my new Lover
though not my God
I become obsessed
I am
I am determined
It works
It's working
I'm winning
I succeed
I am determined
to be
Successful
An achiever
That's all me
That's enough
Because I am Determined
The sky is clear and ocean calm
with few ripples that gently wash
clear sand landward in one direction
retreating in the other as each ripple fades
The tide is low at this time of day
and so I walk towards the other side
even if but only a few feet, languid
a step a time on the friendly sand
I proceed as the water retreats
hoping to reach the other side
not to explore what lies beyond
but to tread the shore for which I yearn
The farther I proceed the higher the tide
forcing my beating a landward retreat
losing many feet from the few I have gained
reducing eternal hopes of reaching the other side
Pioneer in the Labor Movement
and Executive Board Member o f
the AFL-CIO
A. Philip Randolph
The labor/management committee has resolved to
cooperate in public service efforts whose objective
shall be to enhance the public image of I.B.E.W./N.E.C.A.
and publicize the quality product we market.
Facts and figures define the I.B.E.W. electrician as
the best trained, most productive electrical worker in the
nation today. Our joint objective is to make use of that
skill and promote that talent.
Since the first meeting between Jim Brooks of the
Urban League and the Metro Electrical Apprenticeship
Committee in 1964, many Blacks, women and other
minorities have been recruited and employed in the
electrical construction industry. Because of this coop­
eration, Charlye Molden and Donna Hammond were two
of the first Black women in the nation to be trained as
journeymen electricians.
I KNOW A BROTHER
by Aruna Kargbo
Ockley Green Middle School
I know a Brother that has been an influence
all over Sierra Leone.
His dark skin shines like a Mighty Prince.
He is like a shining armor
He is my great grandfather, Pa Alimany Sankon.
He knows what you are going to do before you do it.
He was an intelligent man. He was all knowing
and he helped people no matter what their color was
His philosophy was
I shall do what I would do for myself
He was a chief
T h is m e a a a q a c o u r t « « * of
PRESENTED BY
0
METRO ELECTRICAL T R A IN IN G TRUST
BANK.
5600 N.E. 42nd
Portland. Oregon 87218
(5031 287 075«
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