Stolen, Shackled, and Sold

Stolen, Shackled, and Sold — The Origins of Black Oppression in America

The Middle Passage: A Journey of Death and Dehumanization

Black history in America begins not with freedom but with chains. Millions of Africans were violently ripped from their homelands, stripped of their names, languages, and identities, and forced onto slave ships bound for the Americas. Entire villages were raided, families torn apart, and men, women, and children shackled together like animals.

The journey across the Atlantic, known as the Middle Passage, was one of the most inhumane atrocities in history. Africans were crammed into the dark, disease-ridden hulls of ships, lying in their own filth, barely able to move. Starvation, dehydration, and sickness ran rampant. Those who resisted were beaten mercilessly, shackled even tighter, or thrown overboard. Some captains, to maximize profits, would dump bodies, “excess cargo,” into the sea to lighten the load for the journey. Others simply let captives die, knowing their losses were insured.

It is estimated that over two million Africans perished during the Middle Passage before ever setting foot on American soil. For those who survived, their suffering was far from over.

Bought, Sold, and Beaten Like Animals

Upon arrival, Africans were auctioned off like livestock to the highest bidder. Naked and shackled, they were inspected, prodded, and humiliated as white men assessed their physical strength. Families were deliberately separated — mothers torn from children, husbands from wives — to prevent rebellion and to ensure total psychological submission.

Men who were considered strong were sold for brutal field labor. Women were often subjected to both backbreaking work and sexual violence at the hands of their enslavers. Those who resisted were whipped until their flesh was torn apart, branded with hot irons, or mutilated. Some were forced to wear iron collars with spikes or masks designed to prevent them from eating or speaking out.

Despite this unimaginable cruelty, enslaved Africans refused to break. They developed ways to resist — through silent defiance, sabotage, secret gatherings, and uprisings. They held onto their humanity through music, faith, and storytelling, passing down their rich heritage despite white America’s attempts to erase it.

Who Profited from Slavery?

Slavery was not just a Southern institution — it was a global business. Many of the world’s most powerful governments, financial institutions, and corporations built their wealth on the backs of enslaved Black people.

⦁ The British Empire: One of the largest players in the transatlantic slave trade, Britain controlled vast networks of human trafficking through companies like the Royal African Company.

⦁ The United States Government: Enshrined slavery into its Constitution and allowed it to fuel the national economy. The U.S. government also permitted slave patrols — early police forces designed to capture and punish runaway slaves who were considered property.

⦁ Wall Street & Northern Banks: Banks like JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America directly profited from slavery, offering loans to plantation owners to purchase more enslaved people.

⦁ Lloyd’s of London: One of the world’s most powerful insurance companies today, Lloyd’s was instrumental in insuring slave ships and plantations.

⦁ The Catholic Church & Other Religious Institutions: The Catholic Church, along with various Protestant groups, owned enslaved people, operated plantations, and sanctioned slavery for centuries. Jesuit priests even sold enslaved people to finance Georgetown University.

⦁ Ivy League Universities: Many elite schools, including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, were built with money tied to the slave trade. Enslaved people were even forced to work on their campuses.

Slavery was not just about labor — it was an economic system designed to enrich white elites at the expense of Black lives.

The Crops That Built America

The foundation of America’s wealth was laid on the backs of enslaved Africans forced to work the land. The Southern economy, and much of the global economy, thrived on their labor, making white landowners and businessmen unimaginably wealthy.

⦁ Cotton: Dubbed “King Cotton,” this crop became the backbone of the American economy, fueling textile mills in both the U.S. and Europe. By the mid-1800s, cotton exports accounted for more than half of the country’s total economy.

⦁ Tobacco: The first major cash crop in the colonies, tobacco profits helped finance the establishment of America’s first permanent English settlement in Jamestown.

⦁ Sugar & Rice: Labor-intensive and deadly to cultivate, these crops fueled the demand for enslaved Africans in the Deep South and the Caribbean.

The production of these crops was brutal and unrelenting. Enslaved men, women, and even children worked from sunup to sundown in scorching heat, often with little food or water. Those who did not meet quotas were whipped, beaten, or worse, killed.

Survival in the Face of Inhumanity

Yet, despite their suffering, enslaved people never stopped resisting. Some escaped, forming hidden communities known as “maroon societies.” Others secretly learned to read and write, despite laws banning Black literacy. They found ways to communicate through spirituals — songs with coded messages about escaping to freedom. Even in chains, they resisted.

Slavery, Jim Crow, and the Great Migration

Even after slavery was abolished in 1865, true freedom remained out of reach. Reconstruction’s promise of equality was swiftly destroyed, as Jim Crow laws legalized segregation, voter suppression, and racial violence. Lynching became a tool of terror, and economic oppression kept Black people from accumulating wealth.

Seeking better opportunities, millions of Black people fled the South during the Great Migration, establishing vibrant communities in cities across the country:

⦁ Altadena, CA — A thriving Black community that suffered complete destruction in recent wildfires.

⦁ Detroit’s Black Bottom — Once a cultural hub for Black residents, demolished for urban renewal projects.

⦁ Bronzeville, Chicago — Home to Black entrepreneurs and artists like Gwendolyn Brooks.

⦁ Harlem, New York — The birthplace of the Harlem Renaissance, transforming art, literature, and music in the United States and the world.

⦁ Greenwood District, Tulsa — Known as “Black Wall Street,” it was bombed and burned down in 1921 with government planes aiding the destruction.

⦁ Jackson Ward, Richmond, VA — A thriving Black business district that faced systemic racism and displacement.

⦁ Durham, NC — Home to another prosperous “Black Wall Street.”

⦁ Rosewood, FL — A Black town completely destroyed by white mobs in 1923.

⦁ Bluefield, WV — My own home, where I lived through Jim Crow, known as “Little New York.” Blacks were well educated and were supported by family, community, and churches. The HBCU is currently 90% white which has distroyed the Black middle class in Bluefield.

I Lived This History — And I Prospered

I grew up in Jim Crow Bluefield, WV. We had separate water fountains and public restrooms. We had to sit in the balcony of movie theaters with a separate entrance for Blacks and Whites. We couldn’t swim in the city pool. We were paid less despite higher education. But we thrived. I attended a separate but superior Black k-12 school system and graduated from Bluefield State College, an HBCU established in 1895, with a BS in Chemistry and a minor in Math. I went on to earn a Doctorate in Leadership and Change from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA, and an MLE (Management and Leadership in Education) certificate from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

We were taught to be twice as good as whites, to hold our heads high, and to never let white supremacy define us. And we flourished as individuals and as a community.

History Repeats — And the Fight Continues

Fast forward to today, and we see history repeating itself. Under President Trump, the same forces that upheld slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation are attacking Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Black progress is under attack, just as it was during Reconstruction, just as it was during the Civil Rights Movement.

But we fought then, and we fight now.

Next Week: “Chains to Change — Black Resistance from Slavery to Jim Crow”

We will explore the Underground Railroad, free Black communities, Black newspapers, and the ways we resisted.

Because our history is resistance. Our future is victory.

#BlackHistory #NeverForget #DEI #CivilRights #AmericanHistory #Slavery #JimCrow #GreatMigration #Resistance #BlackWallStreet #HBCU #SystemicRacism #TruthMatters #1619to2025 #StayWoke #HistoryRepeats

References

Aberjhani (2003) The Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. Facts on File, Inc.

Berlin, I. (2003). Generations of captivity: A history of African-American slaves. Harvard University Press.

Gates, H. L. (2011). Life upon these shores: Looking at African American history, 1513–2008. Alfred A. Knopf.

Hornsby, A. (2011). Chronology of African American history. Visible Ink Press.

Painter, N. I. (2006). Creating Black Americans: African-American history and its meanings, 1619 to the present. Oxford University Press.

Rediker, M. (2007). The slave ship: A human history. Viking.

Wilder, C. S. (2013). Ebony and ivy: Race, slavery, and the troubled history of America’s universities. Bloomsbury Press.

Williams, E. (1944). Capitalism and slavery. University of North Carolina Press.

Zinn, H. (2005). A people’s history of the United States. Harper Perennial Modern Classi