9/7: From Indentured Servitude to Enslavement

During the 17th and 18th century, black people paid their steerage debt by...

indentured servitude

Why did slave status change to inheriting the mother's status?

plantation masters raped indentured women and created free children

Bacon's Rebellion

1676-1677 - reorganization along the lines of class and race

What was the main concern with Bacon's Rebellion?

landowning elites could be taken over by indentured servants

Virginia Slave Codes of 1705

codified shift from indentured servitude to enslavement

Tenets of Virginia Slave Codes of 1705

- servants brought in that are not Christians are slaves
- Africans and Indians are real estate
- slave correction accidents: masters get off scot-free

What are the 4 aspects of the shift from indentured to enslavement?

- no assembly: insurrection danger
- militia patrols: visit black quarters suspected of assembly
- no arms
- anti-miscegenation: no interracial unions (white women specifically)

In 1787, how was slavery written in to the Constitution?

- 3/5 rule
- African Slave Trade Clause
- Fugitive Slave Clause

Haitian Revolution

- 1791
- against French colony
- led by Toussaint L'Ouverture: former slave
- defeat Napoleon forces and reclaim island in their tongue
- first black republic of the western hemisphere

Migration to Louisiana 1698-1800

Louisiana bans entry of St. Domingan slaves out of fear of anti-slavery influence

In 1790, a Spanish decree prohibited...

entry of free and enslaved black migrants from the French West Indies

Pointe Coupee Slave Revolt

- 1775
- rumor of slave revolt
- officials find revolt pamphlet
- many executed, few whites deported

What happens from 1791-1803 in Louisiana?

Spain cedes Louisiana back to French and the US buys Louisiana in the Louisiana Purchase

Immigration Act Barring Free Black Men

- 1803
- first nationwide immigration law (targets Caribbean)
- sets precedent on who threatens purity
- fear of black rebellion and abolition

Nat Turner's Rebellion

1831; preacher kills many white people and is met with white resistance

Fugitive Slave Act of 1793

begins slave-catching business, county rules on the matter

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

requires that slaves be returned to their owner, federal government responsible

How do the Fugitive Slave Acts go against the Constitution?

doesn't allow freedom of movement, trial by jury, habeas corpus, etc.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

1857, no black person is a citizen; congress can't ban slavery on federal territory

The Underground Railroad

mobility and possibility of freedom from bondage

Why did slaves escape to Mexico?

Mexico abolished slavery in 1829

What made the escape to Mexico unsure?

200-mile Nueces strip

What type of family served as points of refuge for slaves making the escape to Mexico?

interracial

What does the status of abolished slavery in Mexico cause?

the border dispute because of slaves escaping while at war

Samuel Morton

1830s-40s - skull experiment: the skull from the race that holds the most marbles is the most intelligent (whites)

After the civil war, the authority over immigration shifts to...

the federal level

During Reconstruction, black people were required to...

carry status papers and could be banished or denied entry

What inspired the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 20th century?

racist cultural depictions of black people

Despite the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, black people were still at the discretion of...

landowning elite

13th amendment

abolished slavery, except as a punishment for crime

14th amendment

citizenship clause, privileges or immunities clause, equal protection clause

15th amendment

all men can vote

What was the 40 acres and a mule act?

some freed families allotted 40 acres and a mule to build their lives but the government went back on that

What was debt peonage?

freedmen working on the same plantations they were free from because of debt

Who was Ida B. Wells?

a journalist and abolitionist at the turn of the 20th century primarily migrating to Europe

What was Ida B. Wells' primary message?

- "lynching is our national crime"
- who are the real savages?
- the Constitution promises liberty and happiness for all: lie
- the citizenship clause passed: not "are they human," it's "are they property"

Why were black people originally transported to England?

forced to learn the language so they could translate for English traders

Who was Percy Grant?

socialism advocate: education overcomes immigrant disadvantages

What is an argument against literacy test requirements for immigration?

illiterates have plenty of life skills that curriculum doesn't over and that educated people are averse to

As education spreads, the value of it...

decreases

What was Henry Cabot Lodge's perspective on immigrants?

they are to blame for societal ills, and illiteracy equates to inferior race

How does Henry Cabot Lodge believe immigration can be restricted besides literacy tests?

capacitation taxes and certifying immigrants

Who would the illiteracy test most affect?

Italians, Russians, Poles, Hungarians, Greeks, Asiatics

Who would the illiteracy test not affect as much?

Germans, Scandinavians, and the French

What specifically would the illiteracy test not prevent?

European immigrants taking up space in undesired lands already established

Who were birds of passage?

people who came to the US briefly to take the money they earned with them

What are eugenics?

improving the human species through selective breeding