1The US as a Racial StateBasic definitions, beginningsPamela OliverSociology 220General Theoretical Orientation• Groups are in conflict, one group wants what belongs to another.– European colonial expansion, in our story• Resources and capacities are crucial– Inequalities in military, economic resources lead to political inequalities– Weaker groups can resist domination and still lose• Legacies of history– Past struggles create today’s structures– Today’s conflicts are defined & constrained by the pastAbout “Americanism” and “Anti-Americanism”• All large countries have invasion, conquest of minorities and horror in their history• There are class, race, ethnic, religious, linguistic conflicts and inequalities in most countries• To talk honestly about the unpleasant aspects of our history is not to imply that the US is worse than other countries and certainly not to imply that only the US has problems• This course is about OUR history, about the US• This is not about “good” and “bad” PEOPLE, it is about what happenedUSA as a Racial StateEarly formation of US was a government of, for, and by White people (people from Europe)• American Indians were “foreign nations” to be fought, negotiated with. Not citizens of US.• African slaves explicitly excluded from citizenship in Constitution of 1789; citizenship rights of free Africans attacked after 1790s• 1790 Immigration and Naturalization Act. Migrants from Europe can become citizens in relatively easy process of "naturalization." Only "Whites" can be naturalized. (Restrictions not removed until 1940s)Act of March 26, 1790 (1 Stat 103-104) (Excerpts)Act of March 26, 1790 (1 Stat 103-104) (Excerpts)That any alien, being a free white person, who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years, may be admitted to become a citizen thereof, on application to any common law court of record,in any one of the States wherein he shall have resided for the term of one year at least, and making proof to the satisfaction of such court, that he is a person of good character, and taking the oath or affirmation prescribed by law, to support the Constitution of the United States, which oath or affirmation such court shall administer; and the clerk of such court shall record such application, and the proceedings thereon; and thereupon such person shall be considered as a citizen of the United States. And the children of such persons so naturalized, dwelling within the United States, being under the age of twenty-one years at the time of such naturalization, shall also be considered as citizens of the United States. And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens: Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States: . . . Why?• Why was the US created legally as a racial state?• Why wasn’t it created as a multi-racial government for all the people in a geographic area?• What do you think?2Short history overview• ~ 20,000 BCE – 1491 American history largely uninfluenced by people from AfroEurAsia• 1491 – 1789 European invasion & African forced migration (through 1808)• 1789 – 1945 USA as racial state– Continued invasion & domination by Europeans– Genocide of indigenous Americans– Slavery & legal subordination for Africans– General exclusion of Asians (and subordination of the few who immigrated)– Imperial expansion: annexation of Northern Mexico; colonization of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, PhilippinesBefore 1492Indigenous Americans Before 1492 (1)• Arrived 12,000 – 30,000 years ago (before agricultural settlements in Europe)• Some hunter/gatherers, some settled agriculture, some cities, some empires• Long history of civilizations rising & falling, wars etc. before Europeans. Thousands of years!• Archeological evidence of groups of traders & immigrants from Africa, Europe, Asia. Either blended in or disappeared. America remained in control of the Americans.Indigenous North Americans before 1492 (2)• Estimates 2-10 million in what is now US• Relatively low population density, relatively abundant resources for the population• Some agricultural communities, some nomadic• No horses [horses introduced by the Spanish]Indigenous North Americans before 1492 (3)• 300+ languages/dialects spoken (grouped into larger language groups)• Self-governing nations with governments, some were formal democracies, others monarchies or theocracies – Influence of indigenous American democratic forms on European American ideas• Inter-cultural contact – Significant trade and “trade languages” – Wars, raids, kidnapping• Not paradise: real people living real lives, doing both good and bad things3Specific indigenous American cultural groups in eastern part of what became the US1492 – 1789 The Europeans and Africans Come (Part 1)The Europeans & Africans Come• Columbus 1492. Spanish & Portuguese in Latin America & Caribbean – Columbus & slaves– Conquistadores of African descent (Moors)• French and British trade in North America• British the major slave traders• European settlers & their slaves in North America in 1600s. Importation of slaves 1607-1808.1500-1776 Colonial Era • European incursions• European governments "claim" America and divide it among themselves.• 1600s early colonies in North America were tiny weak toe-holds on the continent; stronger by 1700s• Disease and internal conflict among indigenous Americans permitted the European settlements to survive in 1600s• Early contacts were relatively equal, sometimes hostile, sometimes friendly (trade, coexistence)European Claims 1750Africans and Europeans• ~ 90% of the people who crossed the Atlantic to America between 1500 and 1800 were African, NOT European• ~ 75% of migrants to North America before 1808 were African, NOT European• So why is this country predominantly White?4Africans and Europeans• Europeans and Africans arrived together• ~ 90% of the people who crossed the Atlantic to America between 1500 and 1800 were African, NOT European• ~ 75% of migrants to North America before 1800 were African, NOT European• So why is this country predominantly White?• Death rates, rates of
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