Florida Black History guidelines

 

FLORIDA’S BLACK HISTORY GUIDELINES state that slaves often learned new things that gave them personal benefit. This is a well-documented but ironic historic fact. Former slaves that returned to African Liberia were received as highly skilled and leaders by the tribes that were indigeonous.  Venture Smith’s biography of living a slaves life is the story of a smart guy who learned so much about European tools, weapons, finances, and business that he bought himself and his wife and children out of slavery and established a refuge farm for other former slaves to learn. If someone refuses to accept Florida’s guideline, just ask this question, “Did colonialism allow Africans the ability to learn new things to benefit themselves?”  Because the Africans resoundingly agree with this.  Hated every minute of colonialism but picked up a lot of new techniques and learning from their European masters.  When the English left Nigeria, there was great celebration (like there was all over Africa with independence) but then everybody realized that very few people could make the trains work.  In fact, the Ibos from SE Nigeria, who had been on poor farms, managed to shinny up to the Brits and learn new skills.  A 10% minority of Ibo people ran up running everything.  And they were highly resented by Muslims and farmers from the SW where the soil was good.  A civil war ensued in the 1970s resulting in killing off half the Ibos.  Result, Nigeria fell even further behind.  Such resentments played out in Rwanda and all over Africa.  Similarly, chattel slavery from 1820 to 1860 was very cruel in the South, but unlike the Caribbean and Brazil, slaves often had opportunities to learn new stuff and made it pay.  And why was slavery different in USA?  Life spans were longer with no sugar fields full of mosquitos.  The country had a Christian culture that frowned on freeing elderly slaves who couldn’t sustain themselves.  Turningn the elders loose out in a forest was a death sentence and churches railed against the practice.  Third there was a lot of illegitimacy making half bloods, and masters and overseers felt guilty and made such offspring house slaves educating some alongside white children.  But laws and culture was against the freed slaves after 1865 because the poor anglos saw those slaves as rivals and demanded Jim Crow. I need to stop writing.  There’s much complexity to American slavery that the Democrat activists won’t listen to.