Keaghan Townsend HIST 245: Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration Allison Field !"!

2" 2 #$ate %ass&

Piece By Piece: Race in Early United States History What is race? Race is the expression of dynamic sets of concepts and ideals that and have evolved over time. Race United is important in

understanding

contextualizing

(early)

States

history,

ecause the evolving ideas of race have had a direct influence and effect on the unfolding and direction of the United States as it transitioned from an !nglish colony to an independent country.

"urthermore, the changing ideas of race have solidify those existing to social the hierarchies of and

een used to hegemonies,

uttress and particularly to other

related

attitudes

the

!nglish

colonists

cultures, ethnicities, and supposed races, such as the #rish, the $ative %mericans, and the %frican %mericans. Race is a complicated su &ect ' if you as( a group of people for a definition, you)ll get a group of differing responses. *istorically, since the nineteenth century people have elieved that race is a real,

scientifically verified fact ' and a +uic( glance at the history of the previous t,o centuries ,ill sho, the disastrous results of this attitude. #n -oing Race. /0 !ssays for the /0st 1entury, authors *azel Rose 2ar(us and 3aula 2.4. 2oya do a ,onderful &o sho,ing that there

is no evidence to assert this claim. #n fact, race is 5a doing that involves several, often simultaneous, characteristics us something actions, 6and7 6such as7 noticing those or

particular

physical tell

assuming the

characteristics

6meaningful

a out

person

their capa ilities7, 6and social and economic

y creating, maintaining, and &ustifying7 6and hierarchies, ased on race78

structures

(2ar(us and 2oya, // ' /9). Race, therefore, arises from the attitudes that a self'identified group of people (e.g., 1aucasians) impose upon another group (e.g., $ative %mericans.) !thnicity, on the other hand, tends to arise out of self'identification from a group, and tends to ,or( to,ards group cohesion and maintenance of culture, as opposed to hierarchal or hegemonic oppression of one group over another. #n % -ifferent 2irror. % *istory of 2ulticultural %merica, Ro ert :a(a(i explores ho, the ideas of race evolved in seventeenth century !ngland, and the various colonies of the 1ommon,ealth created over time, particularly, the fledgling United States. *e pays particular attention to ho, these attitudes ,ere used to create a hierarchy, initially starting ,ith the 5!nglish over #rish,8 ,hich lingered ,ith the $e, !ngland colonizers and their attitudes to,ards the $ative %merican and %frican %merican populations. #n the opening chapter, :a(a(i defines ,hat he calls the 52aster $arrative8 of %merican

*istory. 5%ccording to this popular ,as settled

ut inaccurate story, 6%merica7 e

y !uropean immigrants, and %mericans are ,hite; not to

5,hite8 is to he designated as the 5<ther8 ' different, inferior, unassimila le. 6:a(a(i, =7 *e then uses William Sha(espeare)s play, :he :empest, and its t,o main characters ' the civilized 3rospero and the rutish, savage 1ali an ' as an analogy for attitudes of the

!nglish colonizers to,ards cultures they encountered. When the >ueen allo,ed !nglish citizens to colonize #reland, the

#rish

,ere

seen

as

5a

people

living

outside

of

?civilization)8

(:a(a(i, /@). %nd due to the supposed uncivilized nature of the #rish, 5the !nglish colonizers the esta lished #rish rights a t,o'tiered to land, social structure8 in

(i id),

denying

representation

government, or marriage to anyone !nglish. When the #rish arrived in the colonies, they constituted much of the initial la or force ' the indentured servants, ,ho ,or(ed under a contract, exchanging years of la our for rights and 5freedom dues,8 such as land ac+uisition. :hese attitudes continued into founding %merican colonies, as the emigrating population encountered the $ative %mericans living along the !astern coast of $orth %merica. %s !nglish (and #rish) colonizers ,ere pushed from the harsh economic reality of their homeland, they ,ere pulled to the propagandized ountiful e. utopia of the 54ord)s

garden8 they imagined 5the $e, World8 to

:here, they intended to

uild 5a city on a hill,8 ,here no land or resource ,ould go to ,aste y the previous inha itants, ,ho, in their vie,, ,ere not reaping the penultimate colonizers enefit ,ould not from their the environment. land to >uote ,aste :a(a(i, ,ithout 5:he any

?suffer)

?lie

improvement)

y its original inha itants8 (/A). :hey imported their

hierarchal attitudes and applied them to,ards the $ative %mericans. #n the early Seventeenth century, ,ith the rise of the to acco economy, a larger la or force ,as needed, and the first (non'!uropean) %frican 5immigrants8 ,ere forci ly rought to this country ' initially elief, the first ,ere not

to serve as indentured servants. 1ontrary to popular %fricans in this country, though forci ly

captured,

considered slaves ' instead, they, li(e the #rish and !nglish them, served as contracted #ndentured Servants. %t first,

efore %frican

la orers ,ho had completed their contract ,ould

e considered free men

and granted property (or, later, the right to ac+uire), as ,ere the details of their freedom dues. *o,ever, the concept of race again shifted, as a class revolt ,as underta(en in Birginia y ,hat :a(a(i

calls the 5giddy multitude8 of #rish and %frican indentured servants. %lthough Cacon)s re ellion ,as defeated, it ,as to have a lasting effect, as ,ealthy lando,ners used the re ellion to restructure

society and hierarchy not simply on class,

ut on race and class. #n e restructured

the years to come, early United States society ,ould to e ased on chattel slavery,

uilt around the racial hierarchy that y piece, change y change.

,as developed ' not imported ' piece

*istory is al,ays seen through a lens, and as evidenced y the analysis of :a(a(i, race progressed through the colonies ,ith an eddying definition ' yet, al,ays one demarcating ,ho 5the <ther(s)8 ,ere. #nitially, it applied to the uncivilized #rish, then to the savage 5#ndians,8 and finally to the inhuman %frican %mericans. <nly y loo(ing not only at history, ut the filter through ,hich one interprets it, can one see ho, the idea of race has progressed over time. 1ontrary to popular elief, the concepts of race commonly associated ,ith the colonial'era United States did not arrive on the eastern coast fully formed. #nstead, li(e this country, it ,as uilt piece y piece, year y year