Summary
Unlike other immigrant groups, the story of African immigration is unique because the majority of Africans did not choose to come to North America but were brought here against their will. Africans in America treats all the comings of African Americans, addressing the slave trade as well as the immigration of those who moved here by choice. Beginning with the origins of the slave trade in Africa and the expansion of slavery in the 17th and 18th centuries, this clearly written book moves on to describe plantation life and the slave codes of the American South. Extending from this time to the abolition movement to the Harlem Renaissance and beyond, Africans in America concludes with a look at African Americans in the present day, including successes in politics, business, education, and the arts, as well as recent immigration from Africa in the 20th century. This well-written volume offers a concise, informative introduction to African immigration.
History covered includes:
- The impact of the American Revolution on African Americans
- The emancipation of slaves in the North
- The development of cotton plantations in the Deep South
- African-American culture on the plantations
- Slave resistance and revolts
- African-American cultural contributions
- The role of African Americans in the Union army
- The achievements of blacks during the Harlem Renaissance
- The growth of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s and the federal legislation that safeguarded rights of African Americans
- African immigration in the 20th century
- Political and economic gains of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Civil Rights Act
- Cultural contributions of recent African immigrants.