Thesis statement
The American IGBO slaves are historically unique from other historically ethnic slaves and are believed to trace their origin in the West African countries.
Introduction
Slavery in the United States of America has existed since time immemorial. The legal institution of chattel slavery existed in the 18th and 19th century. From early colonial days, slavery had been a practice in the British North America. At the time of declaration of independence in 1977, slavery was recognized by the thirteen states. When the United States was founded, the slavery was majorly geared towards the people of African Origin. In this aspect, the color was predominantly used to carry out slavery. Racism was also another major contributor to the slavery. Immediately after revolutionary war, sentiments and abolitionist laws spread majorly in the Northern states. In the southern part of the United States, cotton was majorly grown. The cotton plantation attracted many workers. Most of them were black Africans who were poorly underpaid. Forced labor was also an order of the day. The slavery from the southern part of the America attempted to extend to the western part (Alexander, 23). However, the extent was not so prominent in the western part. Mason-Dixon Line separated Maryland, which was regarded as slave Centre from the Pennsylvania, regarded as a slave free Centre. This slavery categorization polarized America into slavery zone and slave free zone.
The IGBO slaves in the United States of America faced a lot of challenges. They were categorized using the zones and were confined in the slavery zone. Because the slavery was a historical issue in America, the IGBO slaves faced the same intimidations and torture as the previous slaves. The IGBO community in the United States maintains an identity of the Igbo people. Although they regard the US as their legal place, they can be traced back to the Nigerian origin. They have US citizenship. Many Igbo slaves in America were from West African countries. Most of them were taken during the Nigerian Civil war of 1967-1970 which was also known as Nigerian-Biefran War. In the America, Igbo slaves faced a lot of torture. They were referred to by several names whose origin was from the Igbo of Nigeria. They were referred to as Eboe and Ibo. Other Igbo slaves were also known as ‘’bites’’. “The bites” name was linked to the Bight of Biafra (Alexander, 89). Other new names which were referred to them such as Bonna denoted a slave that arrived from the Africa through the port of Bonny. Their arrival and the presence in the America were welcomed with mixed feelings by the owners of the American plantations. The plantation owners tortured them when it came to working in the farm.
The American Igbo slaves are historically unique from other historical ethnic slaves in the United States. The American Igbo slaves were different from other ethnic slaves in that most of the Igbo slaves were captured from their countries of origin as a result of the offence they did in the community. They were captured by the community members and given out as slaves to the American slave traders. Furthermore, other America slaves abandoned their culture and took up the American people’s culture. Many feared the intimation and torture from the American people. To safeguard their lives, they thus abandoned their culture and took up the American culture. The Igbo slaves were thus different as they maintained their culture even though they received a lot of intimidation from the host Americans.
Most of the American Igbo slaves are believed to have their origin in the West Africa. It is believed that most of the slaves came from the Bight of Biafra. This denotes the West Africa. The Igbo slaves were captured from such countries as the Southern Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Western Cameroon and some parts of the Northern Gabon. Majority of them constituted the Africans who were captives of war and the social offenders.
Findings
The transatlantic slave trade stands as the main contributor to the extensive spread of the IGBO to the Europe and America. The IGBO is the largest existed ethnic group in the Western Africa and the transatlantic slave trade never missed them. The IGBO slaves in America were taken from the Northern Gabon, Western Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Southern Nigeria originally called the Bight of Biafra (Bight of Bony). Unlike the other groups of slaves targeted by the slave traders, the IGBO slaves end into the hand of the slave traders not because they were victims of slave raiding wars or expeditions but they were victims of abominable crimes like debt. The rebellious nature of the IGBO slaves is a unique characteristic that was well known to the slave traders. The IGBO slaves could anything at their reach to escape slavery. An IGBO slave can commit suicide and execute a deadly escape strategy to get off the slave traders.
Contrary to other slaves, the IGBO ethnic group despite being the largest in the west, the slave traders never targeted them, but they ended up being victims of the slave trade. The other African ethnicities were well known to the slave traders, and these led to slave traders targeting some ethnic groups preferred by plantation owners. The destination area of the IGBO slaves was United States, Jamaica, Saint-Domingue, Belize, Cuba, and Trinidad and Tobago. In the United States, the IGBO constituted the largest group of African, and they were mainly populated in the States of Virginia, Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay colonies. Since the late 20th century, the population of the Nigerian immigrants both IGBO and English-speaking has formed a bigger settlement in Maryland and more, so it has built up a stronger professional job market in this state. The social construction of the IGBO in America is so much extensive that they currently have IGBO Roman Catholic in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, California. Majority of the current populations of IGBO groupings in America are Christians and the other minority group are IGBO Jews tracing their origin to ancient Jewish traders.
The African populations living in the Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Houston and Baltimore are mostly considered to be of IGBO origin. The recent roots tracing of the African diaspora by use of DNA uncovers the fact that the African diaspora is as a result of the transatlantic slave trade. After the DNA analysis of Bishop T.D. Jakes, his Y chromosome showed strong results of being of IGBO descent.
Uniqueness of the American Igbo
Culture
Most of the slaves who arrived in the plantations of the America were required to abandon their culture. They were, therefore, required to take up the American people’s culture. The intimidation and torture they received made them drop their culture in favor of the American culture. This was not the case with the Igbo slaves. Though they received intense intimidation and torture, they could not easily abandon their culture. The culture is still dominant in America up to date.
Religion
The American Igbo slaves maintained the Africa form of worship. Most of them believed in libation as a kind of asking for forgiveness from their creator. They believed that when a human being messes up he or she should ask for forgiveness from his or her creator. They believed that through libation one is freed from the sin that they have entered into. Their mode of dressing reflects the African one.
Origin
Most of the Igbo slaves originated from the West Africa. Unlike the other ethnic slaves who were captives of war, the Igbo slaves mostly were the social offenders. They were captured by the community members and given out to the slave traders. They were thus distributed in the plantations of the United States and eventually distributed all over the American land.
Conclusion
The effects of transatlantic slave trade in the wide spread of IGBO ethnic group of Western African origin cannot be undermined. The America traces back its roots to the transatlantic slave trade, which was more dominant in the western region of Africa. Like any other slaves of the ancient transatlantic trade, the IGBO slaves in America, suffered slavery atrocities but good enough, they managed to redefine themselves and secured their place in the United States of America. In the recent decades, the IGBO in America are still seeking to understand and clearly define their origin to America that is mostly assumed to be Western Africa. It is thus clear and worthwhile concluding that the IGBO slaves in America are unique both in origin and there way into the America.
Works Cited
Alexander, Leslie M, and Walter C. Rucker. Encyclopedia of African American History. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2010.
Eltis, David, and David Richardson. Routes to Slavery: Direction, Ethnicity, and Mortality in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. London: Frank Cass, 1997.
Heuman, Gad J, and James Walvin. The Slavery Reader. London: Routledge, 2003.
The 'nigerian' Hinterland and the African Diaspora. North York: York U, 2007.
