Black People in America

Black Americans, also referred to as African Americans, are residents of the USA who are originally from the black population of Africa. Most of these African Americans are descendants of Africans who survived the slavery era but some are also descended from African immigrants.

The slavery era

The first Africans in North America were indentured servants who arrived in 1619 and settled in Jamestown, Virginia. The English settlers died from the harsh conditions which meant that more and more Africans were brought there to work. The African people brought there could legally raise crops and cattle to purchase their freedom. By 1640s and 1650s more and more African families started to own farms around Jamestown and some even became wealthy (by colonial standards).

The race-based slave system was not fully developed until the 1700s and by 1775, Africans made up around 20 % of the American colonies, which made them the second largest Ethnic group after the English. During the 1770s both enslaved and free Africans, helped rebellious English colonists secure American Independence by defeating the British in the American Revolution. Before 1800 black congregations and churches were organized in both northern and southern cities.

By 1860, there were 3,5 million enslaved African Americans in the United States due to the Atlantic slave trade and only 500,000 lived free across the country. In 1663 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in states which had seceded from the union were free.