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Running Head: ESSAY

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African Americans have come so far through history due to their deep-rooted culture that carried
their beliefs in religion, political standing, and connections.
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ESSAY

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Abstract
In this paper, the history and life of African Americans and their culture have been
examined in detail. As a result of their deep-rooted culture, the African American community has
continued to grow and thrive over the years. Their stern belief in religion, connections keeps
them healthy and continues to exist over the years. Their faith and spirituality have their roots
back in traditional African religious culture. They believe that individuals are spiritually born;
hence religion and spirituality are part of someone’s identity. Their education, culture, way of
life, economy, and politics are influenced by religion and spirituality. In this paper, a brief
history of the origin of these communities is discussed and the events that contributed to shaping
African American culture into the community they are today. It is believed that a Dutch ship
brought around 20 Africans in 1619 to the Jamestown, Virginia, a British colony, and resulted in
the spread of slavery all over American colonies, which marked the African American
community's entrance into North America. African American is known to be a community that
lives according to their ancient culture like that of religion where they respect and obey their
religious teachings. In this paper, African American cuisine is also examined with their beliefs
regarding how their meals are prepared. These communities have their dressing styles, which
most of it originates from their ancestors of African origin. Together with their hairstyle and
body markings, the African American dressing style is also examined in this paper.

ESSAY

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History of African American community
The African American community originated from the captured slaves who were bought
and brought to America during the Atlantic slave trade (Fabre et al., 2015). Most of them are
descendants of the different west and central African ethnic groups. It is only a small percentage
of them that originated from the south and eastern parts of Africa. Since they were taken from
different African ethnic groups, they spoke a foreign language and had different religious beliefs
and customs. Even though they were different from each other, they had a common way of life,
which was different from that of the white colonists. Most of these slaves were forced to leave
their ethnic and cultural beliefs and adopt the new white culture since they were working in a
new country and new conditions as slaves and could not practice their culture. As a result, it led
to the civilization of the captured slaves from their primitive lifestyle.
In 1619, a Dutch ship brought around 20 Africans to Jamestown, Virginia, a British
colony. As a result, slavery spread all over American colonies, which marked the African
American community's entrance into North America (Fabre et al., 2015). According to
historians, approximately 6 million enslaved Africans were imported into America in the 18th
century alone. The importation of these Africans deprived African countries of their most
valuable human resource. The most abled men and women were taken from these countries,
leaving behind small children and the weak who could not perform in building their countries
economy.
The blacks were regarded as an inferior race with a primitive culture, making it easier for
them to be rationalized. They were easily identified by their black skin color and were put work
on the white farms. The slaves played a significant role in the growth of America's economy
even though they did it unwillingly without being rewarded. As a result of them living in

ESSAY

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America, they blended their African way of living together with the European culture, which
resulted in developing a different kind of speech majorly spoken in the south. During the
revolution, some of the black slaves fought in favor of America. Most of them, especially those
who fought as soldiers of war, was released and became free, which led to abolishing slavery in
the northern states.
In August 1831, Nat Turner, born by an African-born mother, led the slave rebellion,
which caused fear among the whites in the southern region. Nat turner hated slavery with
passion, and he saw himself as the anointed one who was to lead his people, who were the black
slaves out of bondage (Fabre et al., 2015). As a result of this, the blacks felt supported, and they
were motivated to fight for their freedom, which made them stronger. Upon the August 21st solar
eclipse that occurred, Nat Turner saw this as a sign that it was time for a revolution. Together
with his followers, Turner killed their owners and fled towards Jerusalem, where they settled and
planned to capture an armory and recruit more soldiers in his group.
During the beginning of the 19th century, many African Americans decided to improve
their living standards. Most of them saw education as a way of escaping from slavery. They
found inspiration from a...