THE BLACK EXPERIENCE IN AMERICAPublished electronically by its author Norman Coombs and ProjectGutenbergC 1993 by Norman CoombsThis text is claimed under copyright to protect its integrity andtherefore you are required to pass it on intact but you may make changesto your own copy  This text may be shared in whole or in part so long asthis header is included  It may be quoted freely so long as itsauthorship is properly credited  As the book is out of print the authorhas chosen to make it freely availableWe want to know of any mistakes you find so we can correct them in texteditions to come  Send corrections to Norman Coombs  His emailaddresses areNRCGSHRITVAXBITNET or internet NRCGSHRITVAXISCRITEDUNeither Prof Hart nor Project Gutenberg nor Norman Coombs has anyofficial connection with the University of IllinoisThis text is based on the original publicationTHE BLACK EXPERIENCE IN AMERICAThe Immigrant Heritage of AmericaBy Norman CoombsPublisher Twayne c 1972Contents  Preface  Acknowledgments  Introduction omitted from electronic versionPART ONE   From Freedom to Slavery  1 African Origins       The Human Cradle       West African Empires       The Culture of West Africa  2 The Human Market       The Slave Trade       Caribbean Interlude  3 Slavery As Capitalism       The Shape of American Slavery       North American and South American Slavery       Slavery and the Formation of Character       Slave Response  4 All Men Are Created Equal       Slavery and the American Revolution       Slave Insurrections       Growing RacismPart Two  Emancipation without Freedom  5 A Nation Divided       Black Moderates and Militants       White Liberals       Growth of Extremism  6 From Slavery to Segregation       Blue Gray and Black       Reconstruction and Its Failure       The New Racism  7 Racism and Democracy       Fighting Jim Crow       Making the World Safe for Democracy       Urban Riots       The Klan RevivalPart Three The Search For Equality  8 The Crisis of Leadership       The Debate Over Means and Ends       Booker T Washington The Trumpet of Conciliation       W E B DuBois The Trumpet of Confrontation       Marcus Garvey The Trumpet of Pride       A Philip Randolph The Trumpet of Mobilization  9 The New Negro       Immigration and Migration       Harlem The Promised Land       The Negro Renaissance       Black Nationalism 10 Fighting Racism at Home and Abroad       Hard Times Again       The Second World War       The US and the UN 11 Civil Rights and Civil Disobedience       Schools and Courts       The Civil Rights Movement 12 The Black Revolt       Civil Disorders       Black Power     Epilogue     Notes and References omitted from electronic version     Bibliography omitted from electronic version     Index omitted from electronic versionPrefaceDuring the last several years the study of American history has turned anew direction  Previously it emphasized how the various immigrantgroups in America shed their divergent heritages and amalgamated into anew nationality More recently scholars and laymen alike have becomemore sensitive to the ways in which these newcomers have kept aspectsfrom their past alive and there is a new awareness of the degree towhich ethnicity continues as a force within AmericaMost of the original settlers were British Protestant and white Manyof the later arrivals differed from them in one or more ways Historybooks usually depicted these new waves of immigrants as assimilatingalmost fully into American society  However recent writings have putmore stress on the ethnic diversities which remain and on the richvariety of contributions which were made to the American scene by eachnew nationalityThis volume depicts the immigrants from Africa as one among the manyelements which created presentday America On the one hand they differfrom the other minorities because they came involuntarily suffered thecruelties of slavery and were of another color All of this made theirexperience unique On the other hand they shared much in common with theother minorities many of whom also felt like aliens in their new landThroughout most of American history political power has been heldtightly by the white AngloSaxon Protestant majority  Historicalpresentations which stressed the political component thereby tended toleave the later immigrants in the background  However because thesenewcomers did not assimilate fully into the mainstream of America theymaintained some of their ethnic identity and made fresh and uniquecontributions to American life  A sociocultural approach to historythrough highlighting society and culture rather than politics bringsthese minorities into proper focusThis study of AfroAmericans seeks to describe the character and culturewhich they produced for themselves in America It also points to the manyimportant contributions which they have made to American cultural lifeThe spotlight is on what they felt and thought on the attitudes theydeveloped and on their increasingly vocal protests against the unfairtreatment which they believed was directed at themBesides taking a sociocultural approach to the subject this