Saturday, December 29, 2007
INTRODUCTION
ABBOTT, ROBERT S.
ABBOTT, ROBERT S. Born on St. Simon Island, GA in 1870, Robert S. Abbott generally is regarded as one of the "fathers" of black journalism in the United States. Educated at Beach Institute, Chaflin College and Hampton Institute, Abbott entered Kent Law School (Chicago) in 1896 and was awarded a law degree in 1899.
Following the completion of his legal studies, Abbott practiced law in Topeka, Kansas and Gary, Indiana. Although he was a competent attorney, Abbott soon drifted from the legal profession into journalism, which he referred to as his "first love." In 1905, he founded the Chicago Defender, ultimately to become one of the largest and most influential black owned and oriented newspapers in early twentieth century America.
Abbott was a born crusader and, like the newspaper publishers William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, a practitioner of "yellow journalism" -- an early twentieth century journalistic practice that emphasized extreme sensationalism and exaggerated detail in order to capture the attention of the masses, and thereby increase newspaper circulation. By the time of his death in 1940, Abbott had increased the Defender's circulation from 300 to nearly 200,000.
Following the completion of his legal studies, Abbott practiced law in Topeka, Kansas and Gary, Indiana. Although he was a competent attorney, Abbott soon drifted from the legal profession into journalism, which he referred to as his "first love." In 1905, he founded the Chicago Defender, ultimately to become one of the largest and most influential black owned and oriented newspapers in early twentieth century America.
Abbott was a born crusader and, like the newspaper publishers William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, a practitioner of "yellow journalism" -- an early twentieth century journalistic practice that emphasized extreme sensationalism and exaggerated detail in order to capture the attention of the masses, and thereby increase newspaper circulation. By the time of his death in 1940, Abbott had increased the Defender's circulation from 300 to nearly 200,000.
ABERNATHY, RALPH DAVID
ABERNATHY, RALPH DAVID Prominent civil rights leader and Baptist minister, Ralph David Abernathy, was born in Linden, Alabama in 1926. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, then graduated from Alabama State College, subsequently doing his graduate work at Atlanta University. Abernathy and Martin Luther King, Jr. organized the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955. Following the successful boycott, Abernathy and King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which quickly became the leading edge of the "black nonviolence movement" in the United States. Like King, Abernathy preached nonviolence as a means of attaining social change. Following King's death, he led the Poor People's Campaign in Washington, D.C. Ralph Abernathy died in 1990. His autobiography is entitled And the Walls Came Tumbling Down (1989).
ABOLITIONISM
ABOLITIONISM In the usual sense of the term, abolitionism refers to the loosely organized northern movement during the mid-nineteenth century which advocated the destruction (abolition) of African American slavery in the United States. Anti-slavery sentiment (as opposed to abolitionism per se) had existed in varying degrees from the colonial period of American history onward. The typical proponent of antislavery sentiment was well-meaning, but moderate, content to hope for and at times (albeit rarely) advocate the painless and gradual extinction of the institution of slavery. To be sure, there were some exceptions to this general rule. The Society of Friends (Quakers), for example, is usually credited with being the only group to collectively advocate abolitionism during the pre-revolutionary era. The Quakers — at least after the conversion or expulsion of recalcitrant slave-owning members — believed that slavery was inconsistent and incompatible with the teachings of Jesus and, accordingly, Quaker activists such as Anthony Benezet set out to persuade non-Quakers as to the advisability and morality of abolitionism.
Antislavery sentiment increased measurably in the North as a result of the ideological implications of the American Revolution. The intellectual ferment of the eighteenth century Enlightenment and the libertarian principles of the revolutionary struggle with Great Britain combined to dramatically illustrate the ideological inconsistency of keeping slaves on the one hand while fighting for liberty on the other. This realization, coupled with Quaker activism, prompted northern state legislatures to provide for the gradual emancipation of slaves in the North by 1804; and this action, together with other antislavery measures such as the Northwest Ordinance (1787), and the establishment of the American Colonization Society (1816), provided a solid foundation for the emergence of the abolitionist movement of the 1830's.
Not satisfied with gradualism or with the use of indirect tactics, the abolitionists of the 1830's were decidedly activistic, calling for immediate action to eradicate the institution of slavery in the United States. Prominent among their ranks was William Lloyd Garrison, who founded the American Antislavery Society in 1833. Garrison was convinced that slavery was a sin and that the immediate uncompensated emancipation of all African American slaves was America's most urgent priority. As the result of the tireless efforts of Garrison and fellow-abolitionists Theodore Dwight Weld, Elijah Lovejoy and Theodore Parker, nearly 200,000 Americans had joined antislavery and abolitionist societies by 1850. In addition to these "card-carrying" abolitionists, historian John Garraty estimates that "many hundreds of thousands more had become what would today be called 'fellow travelers,' unwilling to stand up and be counted but generally sympathetic to the movement."
Although it is true that the abolitionists often could not agree upon exact tactics and strategy, they remained united as to their ultimate goal. As historian Richard 0. Curry has written, despite "divisions in their ranks and vilification and abuse by a hostile public, the abolitionists were a dedicated minority that could not be silenced." This lack of silence, of course, did much to intensify the sectional hostility which ultimately resulted in the American Civil War.
Antislavery sentiment increased measurably in the North as a result of the ideological implications of the American Revolution. The intellectual ferment of the eighteenth century Enlightenment and the libertarian principles of the revolutionary struggle with Great Britain combined to dramatically illustrate the ideological inconsistency of keeping slaves on the one hand while fighting for liberty on the other. This realization, coupled with Quaker activism, prompted northern state legislatures to provide for the gradual emancipation of slaves in the North by 1804; and this action, together with other antislavery measures such as the Northwest Ordinance (1787), and the establishment of the American Colonization Society (1816), provided a solid foundation for the emergence of the abolitionist movement of the 1830's.
Not satisfied with gradualism or with the use of indirect tactics, the abolitionists of the 1830's were decidedly activistic, calling for immediate action to eradicate the institution of slavery in the United States. Prominent among their ranks was William Lloyd Garrison, who founded the American Antislavery Society in 1833. Garrison was convinced that slavery was a sin and that the immediate uncompensated emancipation of all African American slaves was America's most urgent priority. As the result of the tireless efforts of Garrison and fellow-abolitionists Theodore Dwight Weld, Elijah Lovejoy and Theodore Parker, nearly 200,000 Americans had joined antislavery and abolitionist societies by 1850. In addition to these "card-carrying" abolitionists, historian John Garraty estimates that "many hundreds of thousands more had become what would today be called 'fellow travelers,' unwilling to stand up and be counted but generally sympathetic to the movement."
Although it is true that the abolitionists often could not agree upon exact tactics and strategy, they remained united as to their ultimate goal. As historian Richard 0. Curry has written, despite "divisions in their ranks and vilification and abuse by a hostile public, the abolitionists were a dedicated minority that could not be silenced." This lack of silence, of course, did much to intensify the sectional hostility which ultimately resulted in the American Civil War.
AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE
AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE The term "African slave trade" is often used synonymously with the term "Atlantic slave trade." Although there is a certain validity in using the two expressions interchangeably, most authorities prefer to distinguish between "Africa" and "Atlantic." Whereas the "Atlantic slave trade" refers to the passage of black slaves from Africa to the western hemisphere, the "African slave trade" is usually used to describe the passage of slaves from Africa to Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and, occasionally, to slave-trading activities within Africa.
Predating the "Atlantic slave trade" by nearly a century, the "African slave trade" (i.e., the passage of slaves from Africa to Europe) had its inception during the mid-1400's. Owing to the fact that Europe lacked a plantation-type economy and also because Europe was not suffering from a chronic labor shortage during those years, the "African slave trade" was relatively short-lived and certainly not comparable to the extent and duration of the transatlantic traffic. Between 1460 and 1500, for example, the average annual number of African slaves transported to Europe was about a thousand, a figure which was dwarfed by the annual number of slaves shipped to the New World during the following four-hundred years.
Predating the "Atlantic slave trade" by nearly a century, the "African slave trade" (i.e., the passage of slaves from Africa to Europe) had its inception during the mid-1400's. Owing to the fact that Europe lacked a plantation-type economy and also because Europe was not suffering from a chronic labor shortage during those years, the "African slave trade" was relatively short-lived and certainly not comparable to the extent and duration of the transatlantic traffic. Between 1460 and 1500, for example, the average annual number of African slaves transported to Europe was about a thousand, a figure which was dwarfed by the annual number of slaves shipped to the New World during the following four-hundred years.
ALBANY MOVEMENT
ALBANY MOVEMENT The Albany Movement refers to the attempt on the part of civil rights advocates to desegregate and to eliminate racial discrimination in Albany, Georgia during the summer of 1962. Sponsored by a number of national civil rights organizations, including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Albany Movement was a coordinated, city-wide campaign to achieve racial equality through nonviolent means. Generally speaking, the Albany Movement did not accomplish its stated goals. White solidarity and an effective police force, coupled with friction and division among the ranks of the blacks themselves, served to limit the movement's momentum. Nevertheless, the Albany protest marches, demonstrations and numerous arrests (including that of Martin Luther King for "parading without a permit") once again focused national attention on the continuing struggle of African Americans to secure full citizenship rights in the United States.
ALDRIDGE, IRA F.
ALDRIDGE, IRA F. Born in New York in 1807, Ira Frederick Aldridge was acknowledged as one of the best Shakespearean actors in the nineteenth century. His stage career began in New York when he joined the African Theater Company in 1821, but northern racial prejudice persuaded the aspiring actor to move to Europe. He studied briefly in Scotland before embarking on a stage career in London during the early 1830's. He soon acquired fame throughout most of Europe, especially for his portrayal of Othello. Aldridge died in 1867, never having performed professionally in his native America.
ALEXANDER, ARCHIE A.
ALEXANDER, ARCHIE A. Born in Ottumwa, Iowa in 1888, Archie A. Alexander attended the University of Iowa, receiving a B. S. degree in Civil Engineering in 1912. In addition to his scholastic achievements at the university, Alexander distinguished himself on the gridiron as an outstanding linesman, earning the nickname "Alexander the Great."
Following graduation, Alexander became a design engineer for a Des Moines bridge company. In 1914, he formed his own engineering firm which operated until 1929. In that year, Alexander and a former classmate joined forces and formed the engineering firm of Alexander and Repass, a business which ultimately became highly respected in engineering and architectural circles. Among their many achievements, Alexander and Repass built the Tidal Basin Bridge in Washington, D.C., an airfield in Alabama, a million dollar sewage disposal plant in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a number of roads and bridges throughout the east and midwest.
The height of Alexander's career was reached when he was appointed to the post of Territorial Governor of the American Virgin Islands in 1954. Unfortunately, failing health forced Governor Alexander's resignation a year later. He died in 1958.
Following graduation, Alexander became a design engineer for a Des Moines bridge company. In 1914, he formed his own engineering firm which operated until 1929. In that year, Alexander and a former classmate joined forces and formed the engineering firm of Alexander and Repass, a business which ultimately became highly respected in engineering and architectural circles. Among their many achievements, Alexander and Repass built the Tidal Basin Bridge in Washington, D.C., an airfield in Alabama, a million dollar sewage disposal plant in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a number of roads and bridges throughout the east and midwest.
The height of Alexander's career was reached when he was appointed to the post of Territorial Governor of the American Virgin Islands in 1954. Unfortunately, failing health forced Governor Alexander's resignation a year later. He died in 1958.
ALLEN, RICHARD
ALLEN, RICHARD One of the earliest black leaders in the United States, Richard Allen was the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Born a slave in Pennsylvania in 1760, Allen was raised on a Delaware plantation. An early and zealous convert to Methodism, Allen was determined to preach the Gospel. Earning enough money by cutting wood and driving wagons to purchase his freedom, the youthful preacher traveled and proselytized throughout the Middle Atlantic states during the 1780's, ultimately settling in Philadelphia in 1786.
As the result of numerous racial restrictions and pressures imposed on black worshipers at Philadelphia's St. George Methodist Church, Allen and similar-minded blacks decided to establish their own church in 1787. Named the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Allen's newly-formed organization became the nucleus of one of the earliest and most influential black religious denominations in the United States. In 1816, Allen called a meeting of representatives from other "separate" black churches in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. This meeting resulted in the formal establishment of the AME Church on a national basis. Allen, in turn, was elected bishop of the new denomination, a position which he held until his death in 1831.
Currently, the AME Church is divided into eighteen episcopal districts, most of which are in the western hemisphere. With nearly six thousand separate churches and a membership roster of approximately 1.2 million, the AME Church continues to exercise a tremendous influence in black communities, both in the United States and abroad.
The AME Church should not be confused with the AME Zion Church. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was established in New York City in 1796 under the leadership of Peter Williams and James Varick. Similar to the experiences of Allen and his fellow Philadelphians, New York blacks were more or less forced into creating their own separate religious denomination in view of the existing discriminatory practices found in the predominantly white Methodist churches in the city. Although some differences do exist, the doctrines and liturgy of the AME Zion Church and the AME Church are essentially the same. Current membership of the AME Zion Church is well over one million.
As the result of numerous racial restrictions and pressures imposed on black worshipers at Philadelphia's St. George Methodist Church, Allen and similar-minded blacks decided to establish their own church in 1787. Named the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Allen's newly-formed organization became the nucleus of one of the earliest and most influential black religious denominations in the United States. In 1816, Allen called a meeting of representatives from other "separate" black churches in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. This meeting resulted in the formal establishment of the AME Church on a national basis. Allen, in turn, was elected bishop of the new denomination, a position which he held until his death in 1831.
Currently, the AME Church is divided into eighteen episcopal districts, most of which are in the western hemisphere. With nearly six thousand separate churches and a membership roster of approximately 1.2 million, the AME Church continues to exercise a tremendous influence in black communities, both in the United States and abroad.
The AME Church should not be confused with the AME Zion Church. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was established in New York City in 1796 under the leadership of Peter Williams and James Varick. Similar to the experiences of Allen and his fellow Philadelphians, New York blacks were more or less forced into creating their own separate religious denomination in view of the existing discriminatory practices found in the predominantly white Methodist churches in the city. Although some differences do exist, the doctrines and liturgy of the AME Zion Church and the AME Church are essentially the same. Current membership of the AME Zion Church is well over one million.
AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY
AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY An outgrowth of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, founded in 1831 by WilliamLloyd Garrison, the American Anti-Slavery Society was formed in 1833 as a national organization dedicated to the immediate and uncompensated abolition of slavery in the United States. A massive publicity program was instigated by the Society in an attempt to bolster membership. As the result of this campaign, which included the publication of numerous periodicals and the mass circulation of antislavery pamphlets, the Society could claim over two thousand local chapters with a total membership of approximately 200,000 by 1850. Aside from Garrison, who more or less dominated the organization with his uncompromising and militant brand of charismatic leadership, other leaders of the American Anti-Slavery Society included Theodore D. Weld, George G. Finney and the Tappan brothers, Arthur and Lewis.
AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY
AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY The American Colonization Society was founded in 1816 for the express purpose of returning free American blacks to their "ancestral homeland" in Africa. This private "repatriation" organization was granted a charter by the government of the United States,' which not only supported the scheme but also helped the Society in negotiating with native African chiefs for land along the coast of what is now Liberia. Members of the Society included such prominent Americans as Bushrod Washington, Henry Clay and John Randolph.
The colony of Liberia itself was formally established in 1822, with its capital, Monrovia, named after President James Monroe. The first group of "repatriated" blacks arrived shortly thereafter. Although nearly one-third of this initial group succumbed to disease within a short time, the colony continued to grow. By 1830 the American Colonization Society could boast of having settled over 1,400 blacks in Liberia. The majority of these had been "free Negroes," but after 1827 an increasing number of American slaves were being manumitted expressly for the purpose of "repatriation." By the end of the 1850's approximately 12,000 American blacks had been resettled in Liberia.
The colony of Liberia itself was formally established in 1822, with its capital, Monrovia, named after President James Monroe. The first group of "repatriated" blacks arrived shortly thereafter. Although nearly one-third of this initial group succumbed to disease within a short time, the colony continued to grow. By 1830 the American Colonization Society could boast of having settled over 1,400 blacks in Liberia. The majority of these had been "free Negroes," but after 1827 an increasing number of American slaves were being manumitted expressly for the purpose of "repatriation." By the end of the 1850's approximately 12,000 American blacks had been resettled in Liberia.
AMERICAN DILEMMA
AMERICAN DILEMMA In 1937, the Carnegie Corporation of New York invited Gunnar Myrdal, a Swedish sociologist at the University of Stockholm, to direct "a comprehensive study ofthe Negro in the United States, to be undertaken in a wholly objective and dispassionate way as a social phenomenon." Accepting this charge, Myrdal and a team of prominent historians, political scientists, economists, psychologists, anthropologists and sociologists painstakingly collected data and compiled exhaustive research reports concerning the status of the African American, past and present.
A major portion of Myrdal's research was formally published in 1944 as An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. Hailed by one reviewer as "one of the best political commentaries on American life that has ever been written," Myrdal's massive study traced African American history from its origins up through the early 1940's, concentrating on racism; economic, judicial and political discrimination against the black; segregation and social stratification; and the emergence and effectiveness of black protest organizations.
Myrdal's principal theme revolved around the disparity between American ideals and practices. He maintained that the "American Negro problem" was basically a moral dilemma involving a conflict between "moral valuations on various levels of consciousness and generality." He argued that America's dilemma "is the ever-raging conflict between, on the one hand, the valuations preserved on the general plane which we shall call the 'American Creed,' where the American thinks, talks, and acts under the influence of high national and Christian precepts, and, on the other hand, the valuations on specific planes of individual and group living, where personal and local interests; economic, social, and sexual jealousies; considerations of community prestige and conformity; group prejudice against particular persons or types of people; and all sorts of miscellaneous wants, impulses, and habits dominate his outlook."
By drawing attention to this "moral dilemma" and to the disparity between American theory and practice concerning blacks, Myrdal's treatise played a significant role in the rise of egalitarian racial sentiment in the late 1940's and beyond.
A major portion of Myrdal's research was formally published in 1944 as An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. Hailed by one reviewer as "one of the best political commentaries on American life that has ever been written," Myrdal's massive study traced African American history from its origins up through the early 1940's, concentrating on racism; economic, judicial and political discrimination against the black; segregation and social stratification; and the emergence and effectiveness of black protest organizations.
Myrdal's principal theme revolved around the disparity between American ideals and practices. He maintained that the "American Negro problem" was basically a moral dilemma involving a conflict between "moral valuations on various levels of consciousness and generality." He argued that America's dilemma "is the ever-raging conflict between, on the one hand, the valuations preserved on the general plane which we shall call the 'American Creed,' where the American thinks, talks, and acts under the influence of high national and Christian precepts, and, on the other hand, the valuations on specific planes of individual and group living, where personal and local interests; economic, social, and sexual jealousies; considerations of community prestige and conformity; group prejudice against particular persons or types of people; and all sorts of miscellaneous wants, impulses, and habits dominate his outlook."
By drawing attention to this "moral dilemma" and to the disparity between American theory and practice concerning blacks, Myrdal's treatise played a significant role in the rise of egalitarian racial sentiment in the late 1940's and beyond.
AMERICAN NEGRO ACADEMY
AMERICAN NEGRO ACADEMY Based on the assumption that educated African Americans have a special responsibility for uplifting the black race, the American Negro Academy was organized by the Rev. Alexander Crummell on March 5, 1897, in Washington, D.C. Charter members included Paul Lawrence Dunbar, the distinguished poet, and W.E.B. Du Bois, who succeeded Crummell as president of this black brotherhood of academicians in 1908.Goals and objectives of the American Negro Academy included the promotion of the arts and sciences, the formulation of intellectual curiosity and the fostering of higher education among black Americans.
AMERICO-LIBERIANS
AMERICO-LIBERIANS Americo-Liberians are the current-day descendants of the approximately 12,000 Afro-Americans who were "relocated" or "colonized" on the western coast of Africa in the early nineteenth century under the auspices of the American Colonization Society.
AMISTAD MUTINY
AMISTAD MUTINY Slave mutinies were a constant threat to captains of ships engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. It has been estimated that nearly two hundred slave-inspired mutinies occurred during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries alone. A classic example of this form of black resistance to enslavement is the Amistad mutiny of 1839.
The Amistad was a Spanish coastal schooner which set sail from the Havana slave market to the port of Granaja, Puerto Principe on June 28, 1839. Enroute, the African human cargo, led by Singbe-Pieh (called "Joseph Cinque" by the Spanish), successfully revolted and slew the ship's captain and most of the crew with sugar cane machetes. Although Cinque and his fellow mutineers had ordered the remaining Spanish aboard to steer an eastern course toward Africa, navigational trickery on the part of the Spanish ultimately resulted in the Amistad reaching Long Island, near Montauk Point, in American waters. Subsequently seized by an American naval vessel, the Amistad mutineers were arrested and charged with piracy on the high seas.
The Van Buren administration in Washington, hoping to avoid an international confrontation with Spain and domestic alienation of southern slave-holding interests, wanted to return the Amistad mutineers to their Spanish "owners." American abolitionists, however, quickly came to the defense of Cinque and his fellow Africans. The abolitionists enlisted the support of former
president John Quincy Adams, who eloquently defended the Amistad mutineers before the United States Supreme Court in 1841. Adams argued that the Africans themselves had been kidnapped illegally according to the various international prohibitions against the slave trade and were, therefore, free. The Court, with one dissenting vote, agreed with Adams and declared that the former Spanish slaves were indeed free and entitled to return to their African homeland.
The Amistad was a Spanish coastal schooner which set sail from the Havana slave market to the port of Granaja, Puerto Principe on June 28, 1839. Enroute, the African human cargo, led by Singbe-Pieh (called "Joseph Cinque" by the Spanish), successfully revolted and slew the ship's captain and most of the crew with sugar cane machetes. Although Cinque and his fellow mutineers had ordered the remaining Spanish aboard to steer an eastern course toward Africa, navigational trickery on the part of the Spanish ultimately resulted in the Amistad reaching Long Island, near Montauk Point, in American waters. Subsequently seized by an American naval vessel, the Amistad mutineers were arrested and charged with piracy on the high seas.
The Van Buren administration in Washington, hoping to avoid an international confrontation with Spain and domestic alienation of southern slave-holding interests, wanted to return the Amistad mutineers to their Spanish "owners." American abolitionists, however, quickly came to the defense of Cinque and his fellow Africans. The abolitionists enlisted the support of former
president John Quincy Adams, who eloquently defended the Amistad mutineers before the United States Supreme Court in 1841. Adams argued that the Africans themselves had been kidnapped illegally according to the various international prohibitions against the slave trade and were, therefore, free. The Court, with one dissenting vote, agreed with Adams and declared that the former Spanish slaves were indeed free and entitled to return to their African homeland.
ARMSTRONG, LOUIS
ARMSTRONG, LOUIS Acknowledged by some as being the "King of Jazz" and by others as being "the best trumpet player in the world," Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong was certainly a legend in his own time. Born in New Orleans on July 4, 1900, Armstrong learned to play the bugle and cornet during his early teens. In 1919, he became a member of Kid Ory's jazz band in New Orleans, moving to Chicago in 1922 to play second cornet in King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. Following brief stints with the bands of Fletcher Henderson (New York) and Erskine Tate (Chicago) during the late 1920's, Armstrong formed his own band and cut a series of recordings which became immensely popular and assured his success.
During the early 1930's, "Satchmo" began to play and sing with the "big bands," popularizing what was called "scat singing" (singing without words), one of his enduring trademarks. His subsequent world tours (first private ventures, then as a good-will ambassador for the Department of State), his many film appearances (including the immortal "Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby) and his popular recordings (especially "Blueberry Hill" and "Hello, Dolly") made Armstrong one of the most loved entertainers of the twentieth century. His death in New York on July 6, 1971 saddened not only the music industry but the world community as well.
ATLANTA COMPROMISE
ATLANTA COMPROMISE The "Atlanta Compromise" is an expression which historically has been used to describe the content and the implications of a speech delivered by Booker T. Washington at the Atlanta Cotton Exposition in 1895. Encouraging his fellow blacks to adopt a policy of peaceful coexistence with white southerners by respecting the "color-line" and by self-help and self-improvement, Washington maintainedthat the future of America's black population was dependent upon the need for vocational (as opposed to liberal arts) education rather than upon immediate agitation for civil rights.
Urging African Americans to "cast down your bucket where you are," Washington went on to emphasize the danger "that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labor, and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin and not at the top."
Urging African Americans to "cast down your bucket where you are," Washington went on to emphasize the danger "that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labor, and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin and not at the top."
ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE Referring to the forced transport of black Africans to the western hemisphere, the modern Atlantic slave trade had its inception during the early sixteenth century. Since the Portuguese pioneered in the exploration of the western coast of Africa, it is not surprising that Portugal was the first European country to take advantage of the rich economic potential involved in the selling of human slaves. The Portuguese were able to maintain a virtual monopoly over the Atlantic slave trade during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. From the mid-seventeenth century on, however, the slave trade became intensely competitive, with Holland, England and, in due course, the United States becoming involved.
The ultimate destination of the overwhelming majority African slaves transported across the ocean during the sixteenth, seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries included the
West Indies, Central America and South America. Beginning in th mid-eighteenth century, an increasing number of African slaves were being transported to North America. Historians do not agree on the number of slaves carried across the Atlantic to the New World during these four centuries. Estimates range from a minimum of fifteen million to a maximum of nearly sixty million. Most authorities would agree that the number was not less than fifteen million and probably more than twenty million. This figure, of course, merely presents the number of Africans who arrived in the New World alive. Millions of others were killed during slave-raiding expeditions in Africa and countless others died enroute to the western| hemisphere.
Although most Europeans during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries recognized and perhaps even sympathized with the fact that the slave trade had its share of "evils" and "cruelties," they nevertheless were able to justify and provide a rationale for its existence. It was argued that slavery was as old as antiquity. Accordingly, there was little fear that they were opening a Pandora's box by the creation of a "new" institution and the mechanical means which made this institution possible. Secondly, the Europeans generally justified the slave trade in terms of their alleged Christian mission and charity; i.e., they were doing the African a favor by "rescuing" him from the depths of "savagery" and "heathenism." But perhaps the primary motivating factor which prompted the Europeans — and later the Americans — to engage in and support the existence of the slave trade was to take advantage of the possibility of high financial return. As it happened, this return, according to historian Eric Williams, was so immense that it in large part financed the rise of a mature industrial capitalism in western Europe.
Similar to the differences existing between historians as to the actual number of Africans transported to the New World via the Atlantic, there are a number of interpretations concerning the effect the slave trade had upon Africa itself. John Hope Franklin has argued that the Atlantic slave trade dealt Africa a "body blow"' from which it is still recovering. "The removal of the flower of African manhood," according to Franklin, "left the continent impotent, stultified, and dazed." Fellow historians August Meier and Elliott Rudwick, however, have challenged this traditional assumption. Arguing that the slave trade "encouraged the development of a substantial [native] mercantile group," Meier and Rudwick maintain that "in spite of the social disruption it caused, the transatlantic trade did not generally lead to a breakdown in West African social and political organization."
For additional information concerning the Atlantic slave trade, especially as it relates to its operational aspects, see: AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE, BARRACOON, CABOCEER, COASTAL FOREST KINGDOMS, COFFLE, MIDDLE PASSAGE, SLAVE COAST, and SLAVE TRADE SUPPRESSION.
The ultimate destination of the overwhelming majority African slaves transported across the ocean during the sixteenth, seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries included the
West Indies, Central America and South America. Beginning in th mid-eighteenth century, an increasing number of African slaves were being transported to North America. Historians do not agree on the number of slaves carried across the Atlantic to the New World during these four centuries. Estimates range from a minimum of fifteen million to a maximum of nearly sixty million. Most authorities would agree that the number was not less than fifteen million and probably more than twenty million. This figure, of course, merely presents the number of Africans who arrived in the New World alive. Millions of others were killed during slave-raiding expeditions in Africa and countless others died enroute to the western| hemisphere.
Although most Europeans during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries recognized and perhaps even sympathized with the fact that the slave trade had its share of "evils" and "cruelties," they nevertheless were able to justify and provide a rationale for its existence. It was argued that slavery was as old as antiquity. Accordingly, there was little fear that they were opening a Pandora's box by the creation of a "new" institution and the mechanical means which made this institution possible. Secondly, the Europeans generally justified the slave trade in terms of their alleged Christian mission and charity; i.e., they were doing the African a favor by "rescuing" him from the depths of "savagery" and "heathenism." But perhaps the primary motivating factor which prompted the Europeans — and later the Americans — to engage in and support the existence of the slave trade was to take advantage of the possibility of high financial return. As it happened, this return, according to historian Eric Williams, was so immense that it in large part financed the rise of a mature industrial capitalism in western Europe.
Similar to the differences existing between historians as to the actual number of Africans transported to the New World via the Atlantic, there are a number of interpretations concerning the effect the slave trade had upon Africa itself. John Hope Franklin has argued that the Atlantic slave trade dealt Africa a "body blow"' from which it is still recovering. "The removal of the flower of African manhood," according to Franklin, "left the continent impotent, stultified, and dazed." Fellow historians August Meier and Elliott Rudwick, however, have challenged this traditional assumption. Arguing that the slave trade "encouraged the development of a substantial [native] mercantile group," Meier and Rudwick maintain that "in spite of the social disruption it caused, the transatlantic trade did not generally lead to a breakdown in West African social and political organization."
For additional information concerning the Atlantic slave trade, especially as it relates to its operational aspects, see: AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE, BARRACOON, CABOCEER, COASTAL FOREST KINGDOMS, COFFLE, MIDDLE PASSAGE, SLAVE COAST, and SLAVE TRADE SUPPRESSION.
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