John Ibrahim Essay

African American John Ibrahim immigrated to America in the fifteenth century. Indian explorers were initially the ones to find the Americas. Later, the Spanish and Europeans joined in on the new world’s discovery. After that, African Americans were brought to the new continent as a consequence of the transatlantic slave trade, not through exploration. However, toward the end of the 15th century, explorer Columbus traveled with both free and indentured Americans. The majority of Africans were either slaves or support staff for Columbus. Pedro Alonso, a Columbus seaman, and Ibrahim must be working for Columbus together. John Ibrahim and Alonso Pedro got to America through Columbus second Voyage that discovered South America’s river Orinoco (Robinson 10). Most of the black people in the voyage were free and worked s helpers or partners in the discovering of the new world.

Evidently, most Africans during t6his period were mandated to lead various exploring groups to search for valuables. Illustratively Alonso Pedro led his exploring expiation to make discoveries of valuables that Columbus had not discovered. However, some of the Africans who landed in New America were victims of the slave trade. Often, they were used to construct villages an farm work as the Europeans and Spanish colonized native Americans. Hence John Ibrahim, being a black man, got into America as a slave or as an explorer towards the late 15th century (Robinson 12). During this period, there was no great demand for slaves which allowed free black Africans. However, this altered towards the 16th century in which most Africans Americans got to America mostly as slaves.

As a black man, John Ibrahim would have lived as a slave during the America’s colonial period. Notably, this time is marked by the increase in slavery and acceptance of slavery in the American word. As a slave, Ibrahim could be expected to live a miserable and discriminatory life, with his masters perceiving him as less human. As a slave, Ibrahim would mainly work in farms as workers in argue agricultural plantations and farms. During this era, the major economic activity was farming and trade. Most of the African Americans during this era were enslaved after the declaration that slavery was legal and accepted in America.

As a slave, Ibrahim would not get an education nor was he covered by any human right of the state. Instead, his master would likely treat him as he wished which also led to mistreating and punishing. Another major characteristic of Ibrahim life would have been loneliness and sorrow. Often, slaves were alienated from their parents, or family had traded to different parts of the world. This led to the absence of family among the black ‘community. This was mainly caused the by the factor that the white people perceived them as a property hence denying them the rights to live with their loved ones. Moreover, other major roles that Ibrahim of take in during this period was the demonstration and taking part in rebellions (Gómez & Jennifer 110). Among the major rebellions in which Ibrahim would have taken part is the Stono Rebellion in 1739, as well as the New York Slave Insurrection in 1741. The major methods used by Ibrahim to rebel included: escaping from the farms for a while or permanently, property destruction as well as malingering.

Evidently, Ibrahim would have lived a miserable life with subjection to abuse, prejudice and discrimination and hard work. Due to lack of education and the lack of power as a black man Ibrahim was more likely to work on farms and plantations with other black people.

The revolutionary war in America was mainly an international war that involved the Great Britain and the American colonies. Ibrahim, being an African American, would have taken part in the war fighting for or against any side. The factor that Ibrahim was a slave he would have been forcefully recruited in the military. On the other hand, he could have been promised freedom after he completed serving. However, there was a major issue that faced Ibrahim after serving in the military. The revolutionary war led to shortages in agricultural production which led to the ban on enlisting African Americas in the military (Higginbotham 660). Consequently, Ibrahim and other African Americans who participate in the war were denied their freedom.

The only opportunity that the revolutionary war gave to Ibrahim and other black friends was escaping. Hundreds of thousands of slaves did escape during the war period. Allegedly, Ibrahim would be part of the 25000 slaves who escaped from Carolina. This disrupted the production from plantations. On the other hand, Ibrahim could also get freed by joining the British forces. The British force did evacuate a significant number of blacks enslaved by Americans leading the colonies (Higginbotham 663). Approximately, the British government did evacuate about 20,000 black people and enabled 3, 000 of them live as free men who settled in Nova Scotia while others went to West Ines.

In the early 19th century, the popularity of tobacco led to an increase in tobacco production by American Colonialist. Ibrahim and his counterparts faced extreme levels of slavery since the worked at a small plantation farm. They were expected to work hard the whole day, and they were easily manageable by the masters. On the other hand, some of his friends who worked in large plantations had more free time after working for few hours. Despite, workers like Ibrahim who worked in small plantations, slaves working on large plantations had some free time and time to interact with other slaves. Nonetheless, most of them were still treated unfairly and unequally and often died from diseases. Notably, the number of slaves during this period had increased and had almost surpassed the total amount of whites in the new land (Sarkela 550). However, they still lived in poor standards which led to often death cases from Ibrahim friend.

The high number of blacks in the America society led to increased affordability of slaves at a low price. This does explain why Ibrahim would have more than two to three masters in a year. Ibrahim would be working in Southern America in which the demand for slaves had escalated due to the demand for slaves due to expanding plantations. As a result, Ibrahim and most of his friend wished to escape to North America since they would acquire more freedom and better treatment. Northern America did not rely on agriculture to boost their economy like the South. Instead, the North used technology and science to manufacture other products that did not require slave labor. Additionally, the North was the first to abolish slavery and freed all black people. This factor would be very luring from the slaves working in Southern plantations..

Works cited

Gómez Menjívar, Jennifer Carolina. “Passing into Fictions: Blackness, Writing and Power in the Captaincy General of Guatemala.” Chasqui (01458973), vol. 45, no. 1, May 2016, pp. 103-115. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=115178483&site=ehost-live.

Higginbotham, Don. “Some Reflections on the South in the American Revolution.” Journal of Southern History, vol. 73, no. 3, Aug. 2007, pp. 659-670. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=26156077&site=ehost-live.

Robinson, Cedric J. “The Inventions of the Negro.” Social Identities, vol. 7, no. 3, Sept. 2001, pp. 329-361. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/13504630120087208.

Sarkela, Sandra J. “Freedom’s Call: The Persuasive Power of Mercy Otis Warren’s Dramatic Sketches, 1772-1775.” Early American Literature, vol. 44, no. 3, Nov. 2009, pp. 541- 568. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=44810542&site=ehost-live.