The USA and black people

America is made up of people from many different countries and races. There are about 250 million people living in the United States of America. Most of them are white but nearly thirty million, or one in eight, are black. Four hundred and fifty years ago there were only a few white people and virtually no black people at all. The first native Americans were the so-called Indians. There were probably about three million Indians at the time the first white immigrants began to arrive.

Starting in the seventeenth century some Europeans from England, Spain and Holland made the difficult journey across the Atlantic Ocean to build settlements in what they called the 'New World'. Some of them, such as the Pilgrim Fathers, were seeking greater freedom to worship God as they wished. Others saw America as an opportunity to own their own land, work on their own farms and build a better life for their families than was possible in their home country. Many of these new Americans disliked the governments in Europe where people had few political or religious freedoms. Europeans were not able to vote or choose who governed their countries. Many of them had to practise religion in the way they were told to by their king or government. Land in Europe was owned by a fairly small class of aristocratic land-owners. Most people who worked on the land remained poor throughout their lives.

Gradually the Americans living in the thirteen British colonies began to dislike British control and taxation. In 1776 they rebelled and declared their independence from the king and government of Britain. This is what they said in their 'Declaration of Independence' which set up the USA: 'all men are created equal' with the right to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'.

Even with the creation of the USA founded on these ideals, one important group was deliberately left out of any share in the freedom and opportunity that was offered. The fine promise of 'liberty' did not apply to the black people living in the United States. Even George Washington, first President of the USA, saw no contradiction or anything wrong in his keeping black people as slaves.

Nigel Smith: Black peoples of the Americas; Oxford University Press, 1992/2000, page 4 f.