Irish: Cruelty In Colonial America

The way people viewed others back in the day was much different than how it is now. No one judged one another by their skin color, but by where they came from geologically. Race was something made up by the european settler in the english colonies for economic power. There’s a trend of degrading a certain group of people for economic and political gain. The two groups that endured this torture and cruelty were the africans and irish. Although they endured this torture and cruelty in different ways it is extremely clear that it was not deserved at all. The Irish and African people were subjected to the many cruel things that the english did to them, whether it be in the english colonies in the Americas or back in their homeland. This essay …show more content…
Everyone was grouped by class rather than race. Equality for Africans changed when the Bacon’s Rebellion started. The rebellion was mostly for poor white people. An uprising was occurring because the elite planter class were not treating them fairly. Not only did they have to work months or even years to be eligible to obtain land, there would be times where the deal would never happen. For example, if they broke a tool, the person who’s in charge would add on months to their time. With each year passing, the opportunities to becoming a free worker was becoming slimmer. Due to the uprising, the elite planters turned to African slaves for a labor force. Africans were the best choice, the most logical choice in their eyes. To this day, it is not known the exact reason why they chose africans over other races. Although that’s the case, a few historians came up with a few plausible reasons. One was that they couldn’t use Native Americans to be their slave labor force because their population was decreasing due to disease that was brought over by the English. It was also to look at an african and see that they look different than everyone. Pointing out that they were different looking would be an easy and effective way to degrade their race, and make the white race be seen as superior. Another huge reason why it was easy to turn to …show more content…
If you looked white it was much easier to be respected and treated right, but that is not the case for African Americans. Before Bacon’s Rebellion, people judged you by what country you were from. It’s a wonder how a single event could change the way a race is viewed.. That is what happened to Africans when they were settling in the English colonies, as explained previously. The economically poor white English men needed to gain economic power so they threw Africans under the bus by spreading horrible lies about how their skin color made them inferior to whites. Rich white people of course participated in this too because they were the ones who kept them as slaves. History shows a pattern of taking someone 's ethnicity/race and using it against them and using it to push them lower in society. Thankfully, the civil war occurred and many other civil rights movements occurred to create a better world for colored people, but due to prejudice people, there are still many who think a person 's race speaks volumes about who they