Black and White

Black and White:

Social and Cultural Diversity Co[pic 1]ntribution to a Young Nation

Jose Nunez

Summer 2014

Black and White:

Social and Cultural Diversity Contribution to a Young Nation

Origins of Europeans and Africans in the United States

The United States of America is often called a melting pot. This metaphor is a constant reminder of our society and the different elements that contributed to what is today our culture. Our diverse culture is a force multiplier, it allows us to interact, learn and foster different mentalities. Nowadays we have embraced our American[pic 2] identity as centered upon the acceptance of one another. This process has not been perfect, especially in the Nation’s early days.

When Christopher Columbus arrived to the Americas he caused a transcendental event called the Colombian Exchange. Even though slavery was a way of life in Europe and some natives tribes in the Americas used slavery against their prisoners of war, it was more like a punishment instead of a way to acquire wealth through hard labor. Slavery has been a controversial topic for the United States since it inception by the Europeans. This subject led the young Nation to the Civil War. This conflict was the Nations most costly, over 600,000 Soldiers died in the war.

It is imperative to understand a few factors in order to completely grasp the term of slavery. Tobacco rather quickly became a major export product that sustained many of the colonies. There was a demand for labor and the Africans were brought to the United States to filled that demand without pay. The South’s economic system was centralized in large farms and intense labor. These circumstances led to foster a large scale of slave labor. The region was ideal for the plantation due to the long growing season, but the southern settlers did not have enough personnel to do the intense labor. “Slavery served the interests of a powerful combination of groups: planters, merchants, industrialists, and consumers. The most important reason for the creation and continuation of the system, therefore, was not racism but the pursuit of profit.”(Blackburns, 1997)

However, Peter Wood intensively argued that, “Blacks and Whites often worked together on relatively equal terms in the early years of settlement. But as rice cultivation expanded, it became more difficult to find white laborers willing to do the arduous work. The increase in the forcible importation of African slaves was a response to this growing demand for labor. It was also a response to fears among whites that without slavery it would be difficult to control a labor force brought to America against its will.”