Exodus. It is a word that refers to a mass departure of people from one place to another. But for most people, it also means one other thing: liberation. This is because in the Bible’s book of Exodus, the Israelites were liberated by Moses from their slavery in Egypt. For more than 200 years, they were treated as if they were mere objects instead of human beings. But during their exodus, they were able to gain back not just their freedom and rights, but their identity as well. The Exodus perfectly demonstrates how the realities of the physical and material world can reveal wonderful truths about the spiritual and personal aspects of life. However, just as the exodus can bring happiness and liberation to a certain group of people, it can also bring sadness and hardship to others. Throughout history, there have been stories parallel to that of the Exodus, but not all of them were positive in nature. There were also new beginnings that were tinted with injustices and misfortunes instead of happiness and liberation.
The biggest and most well-known of these historical movements is the relocation of Africans due to the slave trade. From the 16th century all through to the 19th century, the Atlantic slave trade transported African slaves from central and western Africa across the Atlantic Ocean and to the Americas (Araujo 3). European slave traders procured the African slaves by capturing or buying them, majority of whom were prisoners of endemic warfares between African states or ethnic groups (Araujo 5). The African slaves were treated as commodities and were transported to the Americas like mere cargo. Upon arrival in the New World, the African slaves were sold for different kinds of labour.
More than 12 million Africans were victims of this inhumane act; all 12 million innocent people were uprooted from their homes and then taken to a whole new environment filled with strange new people who saw them as nothing but merchandise goods. It even got to the point where the children of slave mothers were also considered as the “property” of their owners (Lovejoy 6). Like in Exodus, the slave trade also gave a new beginning and a new identity to the Africans. Only this time, it was a movement from freedom to oppression. Their new beginning entailed years of servitude; their new identity became being seen as exported goods.
Another group of people whose identity and culture changed was the Native Americans. On May 28, 1830, the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, effectively removing the American Indian tribes who were situated in the east of the Mississippi River (Cave 15). Not only was this legislation an act of insensitivity and disrespect, it was also an infringement of early treaties. Those treaties were signed by American leaders and Indian tribe leaders to ensure that the territories of the tribes would not be taken away from them. However, when American settlers started yearning for the Indian lands, the earlier treaties were replaced by new ones that forced Native American tribes out of their own lands.
The Indians’ movement from the east of the Mississippi River to what is now the state of Oklahoma was dubbed the “Trail of Tears” because of the heartbreaking nature of their relocation (Woolwine 8). Being forced to move out of their own lands was not just a matter of changing homes. To the Native Americans, it also meant changing their identity. To their tribes, a huge part of their identity was dependent on their relationship with the land. All their traditions, myths, legends—their entire culture—were closely connected to the land they had been standing on for centuries. The hills, mountains, rivers, and valleys were a part of who they were as much as they were a part of it. Pushmataha from the Choctaw tribe put it beautifully: “We wish to remain here, where we have grown up as the herbs of the woods; and do not wish to be transplanted into another soil” (Perdue 20).Being forced into strange new places less conducive to their lifestyle was a new beginning for the tribes. Sadly, it was a beginning that heralded an end to their connection with their beloved lands.
Unlike the Native Americans, the Scots left their home on their own accord. It was in the 18th century when a large scale migration by the Scots from Scotland to Canada took place (Lewis 4).The extreme and sudden influx of Scottish immigrants was due to various economic and societal pressures occurring in Scotland at the time. There was the failed Jacobite uprising, the crop failures, and the famine (Lewis 10). The biggest factor of all was the exceptionally high price of rented lands that was continuously increasing. Seeking religious, political, and financial security, over 900,000 Scots crossed borders and found a new home in Canada (Lewis 6).
Upon their arrival in Canada, the new Scottish settlers became divided. Some believed that the retention of religious and cultural identity would be a hindrance to their successful settlement; others believed it would be of help. Despite their efforts to maintain their pure Scottish identity, exogamous marriages and the spread of the English language permeated into their culture (Lewis 21). In the end, while most of the Scots were able to hold on to most of their culture such as music and literature, their identity was still inevitably changed into that of a Scottish-Canadian identity. Not only did their relocation give them a new identity, it also gave birth to a new amalgamation of two wonderful cultures.
Works Cited
Araujo, Ana L. “Welcome the Diaspora: Slave Trade Heritage Tourism and the Public Memory of Slavery.” erudit.org. Ethnologies, 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2014. <http://www.analuciaaraujo.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Ethnologies-2011.pdf>.
Cave, Alfred A. “Abuse of Power: Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act of 1830.” pdflib.com. PDFLib, 2008. Web. 15 Oct. 2014 <http://www.trinityhistory.org/AH/pdfs/Cave,%20Abuse%20of%20Power.pdf>.
Lewis, Allan W. “Scottish Emigration to the Ottawa Area.” bytown.net. By Town, 2003. Web. 15 Oct. 2014 <http://www.bytown.net/hist3500scots.pdf>.
Lovejoy, Paul E. “The African Diaspora: Revisionist Interpretations of Ethnicity, Culture and Religion Under Slavery.” yorku.ca. Yorku, 1997. Web. 15 Oct. 2014 <http://www.yorku.ca/nhp/publications/Lovejoy_Studies%20in%20the%20World%20History%20of%20Slavery.pdf>.
Perdue, Theda. “The Causes and Consequences of Indian Removal.” americainclass.org. America in Class, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014<http://americainclass.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/WEB-Indian-Removal-Presentation.pdf>.
Woolwine, Bill. “Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears.” polk-fl.net. Polk, 2011. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.<http://www.polk-fl.net/staff/teachers/tah/documents/turningpoints/documentquestions/b-TrailofTears-Woolwine.pdf>.
