True, slavery does have a long and glorious history but at least in the classical world of Rome and Greece they had strict regulations concerning the treatment of slaves. Many of the richest people in the Roman Empire were ex-slaves and slavery began amongst the Romans as an alternative to simply killing a conquered population. Some would consider this a more humane approach.

If I'm correct the indentured servitude was for the people they basically used as slaves, the non Caucasians. Whereas the poor who came over from the UK were called 'tenured'. They worked for X amount of years and had then paid off their debt.

At least that's what I understood.

Indeed the word was 'indentured', thank you!

Why did the puritans go to the US? Please enlighten me. I did learn about the Pilgrim Fathers, but that was in the time I couldn't even pronounce Massachusetts, meaning a long time ago, haha.

And yes, history is always crammed in a school curriculum I suppose. There's choices to make what has priority due to the sheer amount of it.
I was just curious since I'd consider the situation with Native Americans and slavery/African Americans absolutely vital. More important I think than the Boston Teaparty and anti-English feelings, but that's me.
Since the B&W situation, and that of the Indians, has such an impact on the country, I'd make that first priority, to make sure Americans understand where the other party is coming from.

As for who captured the Africans... I think it was white people to begin with, but it is of course much easier to pay people to do the work for you and have a new shipload at the ready than doing it yourself, chasing through a country you don't know and risking getting attacked by animals you aren't used to.
And history has proved how easy it was for us to bribe or force other people to do our dirty work for us, however sad that may be...

not so crystal in fact in colonial times(late 1700s) somewhere between 50 and 75%
of all the colonies population was indentured and most were in fact unskilled laborers skilled actually signed different contracts which tended to be shorter and had potential for apprenticeships

SparklingCrystal:

"Why did the puritans go to the US? Please enlighten me"

Primarily because they wanted to found a colony where they could be in charge, and dictate the religion of everyone there. All part of the idea of following a "pure" way of life, as they understood it.

Since they indeed wanted to get away from other people back home who didn't want to live as they said, and who were in charge of the government, it's possible to twist that around to say they wanted "the religious freedom to tell everyone else how to live." Not an uncommon enough urge, even today.

Ironically, one they got here, they started to figure out that they were all in agreement that the folks in charge back home were wrong about everything, that they actually didn't agree with each other all that much either. So several subgroups split off and started new "puritan" colonies further down the coast.

Lots of fanatic groups are like that. Left, right, religious, anti-religious, and so on. Recently, for example, the people who were having a GREAT time with each other, saying how superior they were to lots of other Americans, and calling themselves the Tea Party Movement, finally decided to form a real political party...but when they went to decide on actual principles for what to FAVOR, they discovered that it's easy to be unified about who you despise, but a heck of a lot trickier to unify behind what you support.

I want to clear up a couple of issues.

Native Americans are no more homogeneous than Europeans are.
No, not all Native American tribes operate casinos.

Also, black Americans are no worse than any other Americans.
No, they don't gamble more than other Americans.
As for how they get along with Native Americans, back during the 1800s, black Americans found refuge among Native Americans.

Kudos SparklingCrystal, for tying to understand another country better.

One thing I noticed was your selection of AA and NA yet you fail to mention the Irish or other demographics?
You fail to mention the Asian American.
Especially right after WW2 started.

Tonight I had a rare opportunity to talk personally with an Asian American.
My sink was leaking and he was the one my landlord sent to fix it.
During the time he was here (yes, sink is fixed) we conversed.
He spoke English (while talking with me) good enough for me to understand him.
When his phone rang, he spoke Chinese, Cantonese or some other Asian dialect.
I understood him enough to know he is just like any other person with goals, dreams and responsibilities.
He was rather pleasant to talk with.
He was telling me about a house he bought not far from here.
We have no...'Chinatown' nearby.

When America Despised the Irish: The 19th Century's Refugee Crisis. More than 150 years ago, it was the Irish who were refugees forced into exile by a humanitarian and political disaster.

Internalized racial oppression among Asian Americans is currently an understudied topic in the social sciences.

Most American adults (82%) say Muslims are subject to at least some discrimination in the U.S. today.

In some cities, Whites are discriminated against.
We get racial slurs too.
"YT" is pretty common.
"Cracker" is also pretty common.

Discrimination is different than slavery.
Some land owners were not discriminating against their slaves.
Most were free to live in homes (slave quarters) and allowed to express their own heritage.
Not every AA slave was under a whip.

With all that being said, you can believe slaves still exist in the USA.
They are technically not 'slaves' but they are locked to servitude.
This happens when any employer with wealth or power demands compliance to their wishes to their employees.
Instead of being chained, they are controlled by having a job.
The difference is, now anyone can leave a job if they wish.
Employers know they can leave but use their influence to control the employee.
Anyone who has worked for a living for someone else is beholden to that employer for keeping their job.
The slave mentality arises when the employee is tasked to do things not in their job description or get fired (laid off, let go).

As for the education, I was in high school at a predominant 'white' population.
Roots (1977) aired during my junior year of high school.
Slavery and AA discrimination favored the AA side of history.
We learned about the 'underground railroad' and many AA customs.
Perhaps my school was progressive?
By comparison, there was little on the Irish, the Asian American or the American Native Americans.

I did have a roommate in college that was NA.
When he was sober (he sure could drink) his manner was pride and intolerant to discrimination but one on one, he was pretty normal.
He told everyone to call him "Chief" but he wasn't.
I think it was acceptance from years of discrimination and people calling him "Chief". I called him by his actual name and it made a major difference in how we interacted.

In Mississippi where the population is mostly AA there is little discrimination.
We also have a rather large proportion of Mex-Americans.
Also not discriminated.
In general, people tend to accept others here.

I grew up in rural Pennsylvania.
Its almost the opposite.
People were wary of AA.
I got a lot of hash because one of my friends were one of the few AA (less than 20) in my town.

There is a rather in-depth article in wiki called Racism in the United States here is a link...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_the_United_States
From scanning the article, I realized there are more demographics than I previously imagined.

African Americans
Native Americans
Asian Americans
European Americans
Latino Americans
Jewish Americans
Middle Eastern and South Asian Americans

Give the article a look, I think you might find it enlightening.

Thank you, Tom! Very interesting.
I didn't fail to mention the other demographics, I was focusing on the ones that were there when the English established the first settlements, which are the AA and NAs.
As you said, the Asians and Irish came later, although of course there may have been the occasional Irish at the beginning too.

When it comes to discrimination, the US is a typical country. I'm not sure we have discrimination like you do over here even though we of course also have Asians, Jews, Muslims etc. And we have (way too) many Eastern Europeans. We do have discrimination, but in another way I think.
I think as it is most eyes are on Muslims as they cause an awful lot of trouble.
And discrimination of us, the Dutch, I feel is one of the most overlooked one.

We do not have the 'employee slavery'. You can not get sacked just like that over here. I know this is different in the US. Employees are protected and you cannot simply fire one without very good reason. There is an investigation and the employee has to sign something too. Probably because the one without job will next apply for unemployment benefit, which everyone is entitled too, so government wants to know there is good reason for that. If the employer was at fault he's in chit.
It was the reason people didn't get a contract as easily anymore. Usually just for a year which then gets extended, or not. It hardly ever happens you get a indefinite contract which was normal in the past. They still can't just sack you during the year, but after the year they can of course not extend.
I do believe after a extending x number of times they have to offer an indefinite contract. In that sense people are well protected, and this is by law, so nation-wide.

As for the NA... I'd never read before that tens of thousands were send of into slavery to the sugar islands. The reason was that as a slave in the US they tended to escape as they knew the land really well. So they just shipped them off elsewhere so they didn't have that advantage.
The devastation to the tribes and the NA people is really enormous. It's almost a miracle there are still NA left. Some tribes were entirely annihilated.
I have seen a similar thing when in Australia, where I lived among the Aboriginals for half a year, in their community and worked for their community. Their history is much the same. It broke my heart even then as a 19 year old girl to realize how they'd suffered. They're such beautiful people, you know!
And still to this day many Australian look down their noses on them. The arrogance of white people is still alive and kicking.

Oh, and I am happy to read that you did learn a lot about those days, more so than on the Irish etc. For the simple reason that from what I understand there's still a big gap between B&W and problems with NAs, and this of course goes back to those first days. If there'd be more understanding the current situation might begin to shift as well.

As a black woman, this is how I see it.

I do not have the perspective on the Native American experience, not having walked in their shoes.

Now, the past often frames the present. The place of African Americans as substandard and property lasted from the 1600s to nearly the 1900s, or three centuries. That was followed by further INSTITUTIONAL unequal status through Jim Crow laws that lasted until 1960. That means that since the 1600s there has only been a little over half a century, or only two generations, that the INSTITUTIONAL law has not been that African Americans should be treated as inferiors.


The mind is powerful and basic values get passed down through generations. To me, this means that a very longstanding NATIONAL negative and inferior perception of African Americans has been enforced for 360 years compared to the only 60 since institutional inferior status has stopped being DIRECTLY enforced.

However, the consequences of that many years of having institutional second class status has not been anything good, and implicit bias tests have shown time and time again that the NATIONAL perspective of African Americans has not fared much better.

Add to that the way the educational system and the media 'represent' African Americans, and you generally have a bias that impacts all areas of the African American life, especially AA males. This is a bias I feel colors decisions with employment, justice, healthcare and many other areas of life.

In contrast, I don't personally feel the education system or media much represents Native Americans at all, so I would be surprised to see the same blatant negative bias existing for them, although it is quite possible it does.

I would be surprised if people clutch their purse around a native american, or if officers assume a threat when encountering a native american the way they would an african american male. The history does speak for itself. Today, we have laws that dont allow for the same blatant discrimination as before, but there is enough discretion that people can find many other reasons to hide behind when their actions and choices are colored by race.


I do not like to compare trauma or tragedy. I can only give my perspective as an African American female.

A very wonderful dispassionate write MsHarmony.

I used to live in Richmond, Va; and had two good friends. Both gave valuable advise on how to get along. Calling them Black American or American Black sounds funny to me even now. This was before the Web exploded - 1992-98

lol ... there are so many different personal preferences for the labels. I always grew up with the connection of white being 'pure and clean', so it seemed like black would be 'not' those things. So, I personally never preferred the label 'Black', although it makes me no real difference if someone else chooses to use it. I know what they mean and I fit that racial term as well. I like 'of color' or 'colored' but it can be argued that all skin has a 'color' to it, so it is not quite descriptive enough. I prefer African American, because it doesn't have the dark and negative 'opposite of white' connotation, and it doesn't describe me in any other way, color or otherwise. It does embrace my ancestry from Africa, while simultaneously celebrating my nationality as American. Because there were so many centuries where my ancestors could NOT be seen as both, it is a way to honor their sacrifice and their journey.

Something worth considering.
In today's society, AA are very vocal about their heritage.
In contrast, it is seldom NA are vocal.
This might have to do with my location as there are no reservations in this area (I am aware of) but Native Americans did populate most of the continental US.
There is also a strong but fairly silent voicing of Inuits in Alaska.
Eskimo is a slur to most Inuits.
Again, I do not live in Alaska so I have no first-hand knowledge.
I wonder if Native Islanders in Hawaii also feel discriminated?

Something else you may want to consider in your research is that the US laws include AAs but often have to have special circumstances for NAs. NAs are 'given' land called reservations where their laws supersede the US laws to a point and they have a representative that works as a moderator when there is a conflict in the laws.
There are no AA reservations or separate societies. AAs are treated and held to standard US laws. So are the Irish and other minorities.
It is only the Native Americans that are still set apart from US laws. Still isolated on reservations.

The main difference during the settlement of the United States was AAs were not hunted to extinction by the invading force. AAs were relocated here for a purpose. NAs were eliminated and their land taken from them.
AAs are being accepted into the nation while NAs are still segregated and outside the nation.

I'm not minimizing the cruelty and injustice the AAs suffered during slavery but I do think if any demographic has a reason to still be very angry it is the Native Americans.

Not mentioned in any history class.
One of the first slave owner was a black man.
The first blacks brought over weren't slaves. They were indentured servants, many who eventually paid for their freedom.

Looking at history in general, Anglo Saxon a appear to be the race which feels the need to conquer others. Anglo's frequently use charm, lies and baffle with very odd quotes. They like to feel superior over others. They are very paganistic and shroud themselves in secrecy from others. They spread highly malicious gossip and accuse their imagined enemies with heinous crimes.

There is no doubting the cruelty and trickery of slave traders. In this era of advanced technology, it is very easy for hackers to rewrite history .

We all, red, yellow, black or white, have a Satanic cult aiming to enslave all of us.

Dang I missed these wonderful new contributions!

@MsHarmony thank you. I get that you may feel slighted that black people are sooner regarded a threat than NA, but even I'd feel that way. I think that black people tend to assume this sense of entitlement which is so strong it easily turns into threat and violence as well. Funny enough you see the same thing over here from black people. Not from Asians or Turks, black people yes.
Like Tom said, the NA are a people that got severely attacked and almost annihilated (some tribes were btw), robbed of their own lands in a horrifying way. Your ancestors were brought to another land, not your own. I think this creates a very different effect, also in the descendants of a people for generations or forever. They can never get their lands back, even though they have to still live there.
Both AA and NA situations are unique. I think maybe the NA are more a broken people, their fighting spirit ruined for the most part.
Many black people are involved in crime, pimping women -incl white women-, gangs etc. There's an entire area in NY -and likely in other cities too- where white people and police daren't even go. I never heard of this about NAs.
When my girl went to a local college to check it out there were a lot of AA there and they immediately harassed her. Had it been white folk they would likely not even have looked up. I feel often black people themselves create the tension and keep the negative views and feelings alive by their own behaviour.
When I went to a 'black' fish shop with my girl in Alabama I also felt ill at ease. Not cause I see black people as inferior, I don't have that history really. But because of their behaviour and vibe. That sense of entitlement they exude, as if they're more than another.
I'm sure not every AA is like that, but the ones that stand are seem to be like this and that's the image that's painted, by themselves. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Like you say, it's only been a relative short time since AA had the same rights. Hopefully things will become easier. But I think it's really difficult especially since black people tend to live and stick together in clusters, which isn't really integrating. I see the same over here. Entire areas in Rotterdam you rather not enter cos it's just not safe when you're white.
And like I said, Asians, Turks etc. don't seem to do that. Moroccans -again Africans?- do it too. That behaviour makes it real hard to get a diverse population that is accepting of one another and feels like one.

If you actually read American history and the colonization of this land, you will see Americans and the Indians got along fabulously until over 50 years of our colonization. One of the big obstacles to Americans fighting Indians was the white culture and us not wanting to torture people during war. We were not against the Indians having warring factions however we were against torture. If you get your facts straight, maybe you will learn to understand about this country. We are far from perfect but show me where communism or socialism has worked? Cite one example where communism or socialism has worked! One more time, show me were communism or socialism has worked.

If you actually read American history and the colonization of this land, you will see Americans and the Indians got along fabulously until over 50 years of our colonization. One of the big obstacles to Americans fighting Indians was the white culture and us not wanting to torture people during war. We were not against the Indians having warring factions however we were against torture. If you get your facts straight, maybe you will learn to understand about this country. We are far from perfect but show me where communism or socialism has worked? Cite one example where communism or socialism has worked! One more time, show me were communism or socialism has worked.