Slavery started in America (although it wasn’t America at that time; it was just a colony of Great Britain) in about the 1600s.  People were taken in chains from western Africa to the U.S.A.  People who died on the journey were simply thrown overboard, and slaves were only fed with water and sometimes a banana.  When they got to America, they were still in chains and were to be “bought” by slave owners.

Slaves would work on a plantation, unless with a 1% chance, they got freed.  If an owner didn’t want the slaves any more, he/she would sell them to a slave market, and then the slave market would sell them to another owner, not set them free.  Sometimes a slave would try to run away.  There were people hired to just patrol some places and punish any slaves that were trying to run.  Slaves could go to places like a store if their owner gave them a pass.  The people who punished the slaves sometimes even killed, but “punishers” had to check for a pass before they did.

Most people think that there were only slaves in the south.  But at one point, there were slaves in New York.  In 1991, someone was digging to make a building and found bodies from the late 1700s.  After doing some tests and finding many more bodies, it was found out that this was a burial ground for slaves.  (Free slaves probably buried them and not the whites, so it’s not like the whites showed any mercy.)  That building they were making obviously never got built, but an amazing site was made.  It is the place, located in lower Manhattan, where most slaves in New York are buried.

If a slave was trying to escape, he/she would travel on the Underground Railroad.  No, it wasn’t an actual railroad; it was a road that slaves took to freedom.  But it wouldn’t free them completely.  Once a slave got to the north, their owner probably would offer a prize to anyone who could capture the slave and bring him/her back.

Forced immigration was cruel, but almost everyone is glad it’s over now.  Hopefully it will never happen again.  And if it does, hopefully we can have another person who can stop it…

Note: The words may have been hard to read.  In case you didn’t understand, the first paragraph is about Mangulu being born in Mendeland in western Africa.  Her father trades her away and she ends up on a ship to America.  Cinque finds a nail and sets the capives free, capturing the slave-traders in the process.  The ship sets sail towards Africa, but the Spanish turn the ship around during the night and sail to America.  Eventually the Spaniards reach the USA and are seen.  Other slave-traders rush onto the ship and recapture the Mende (”Mende” is the name of the tribe that Cinque and Mangulu are from).  The Mende go through many trials and one in the Supreme Court before they are finally freed.  But they can’t go back to Africa if they can’t pay for the ship (I know this sounds unfair; they didn’t pay for going to America, nor did they want to.  That was life in those days.  This sounds even more unfair, but they were very, very, very, very, (etc.) lucky to not have been made slaves at all).  That pretty much wraps up the poem.  As you can see on line seven of the text of this post (not including the poem), it said the word “Note” (which obviously meant that there was a note).  I just want to tell you that the note is long over.  Oops!  I said I just would tell you that.  Which means I can’t tell you anything else, so I want to tell you one last thing.  Bye!

Mangulu was born in a place in western Africa called Mendeland. She was still very young when she was pawned (to be “pawned” means that if your tribe is in need of something, then the one who was to be “pawned” would work as a slave for the one who would give them that thing) by her father. She became a slave to the Americans. Mangulu was chained to another slave. She was on a ship for seven weeks. Eventually the ship reached somewhere in Cuba, possibly Havana. The slaves were taken aboard another ship, this one taking them to another part of Cuba. In the middle of this trip, the slaves rebelled. Now I know you’re going to ask how they rebelled while they were in chains. Well, Cinque (remember him?) found a nail and picked the locks on the chains. Then the slaves all ran out on the deck at once. Mangulu wasn’t part of this rebellion, and she didn’t know what had happened until she saw the Spanish in chains. Cinque told them to sail back to Africa. They started sailing east, but after a few days, Cinque soon realized that they were being tricked. The Spanish were going east during the day, but at night they turned the ship and started heading west.

Eventually the Spaniards won. Other ships saw the Amistad and recaptured the Africans. The ship reached land in the United States. Cinque and others on the ship faced a death penalty for killing so many white men on the ship. But Cinque said that since the so-called “killing” had taken place outside the United States, he shouldn’t be charged for murder. Also, bringing slaves from Africa was, at that time, illegal. After many trials, the case made it to the Supreme Court. Cinque had John Quincy Adams, a former U.S president, as his lawyer. He won the case, but even so, the USA wasn’t going to provide the money for them to go back to Africa. They had to wait for donation money to add up. Eventually Mangulu got the money. On the ship, she was probably fascinated by the luxury. After all, the first time she had sailed she had been chained in a dirty prison. She must have been happy to see her native country again.

It is a sad story, but unfortunatly it is true. Mangulu sailed back to America and went to college. She even got a Christian name; Sarah (Yes, I know you had been wondering why I called her Sarah in the title). Sarah probably lived happily ever after. (Although I must say, she most likely gave her father a good telling off for pawning her. I wouldn’t be surprised.) Hopefully slavery will never happen again. (And hopefully nobody will be in such desperate need that they have to pawn their daughter, but I think Mangulu’s father would want me to change the subject.) So, in changing the subject, I guess I should end this post. Bye!