This Multimodal project focuses on the distinctive lifestyles of African Americans in the South and the North by analyzing “Time, Space, and the Evolution of Afro-American Society Afro-American Society on British Mainland North America.” by Ira berlin along with   “Race and the southern Worker,” and “12 years a slave” film

“Time, Space, and the Evolution of Afro-American Society Afro-American Society on British Mainland North America.” by Ira berlin describes the three distinctive geographical slave systems that Affected African Americans, since their arrival in America. A Northern nonplantation system and two southern plantation systems in the Chesapeake Bay and the other in the Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry. When it comes to the northern system, it was very different from the southern system because in the North, due to the climate, slavemasters didn’t farm much. So they made enslaved African Americans work closely with them and make them perform other labors, which lead African Americans to move out and live independently. For illustration, it states, “Urban slavery moved steadily away from the household to the docks, warehouses, and shops, as demonstrated by the growing disproportion of slave men in the urban North. Aside from those skills associated with the maritime trades, however, few slaves entered artisan work. Only a handful could be found in the carriage trades that enjoyed higher status and that offered greater opportunity for an independent livelihood and perhaps the chance to buy freedom.” (Berlin, 49).  This reveals that the interaction with slaves and white gave blacks the opportunity to acquire knowledge about the world. However, some African Americans may have been forced into working in factories. Others were offered job opportunities to work on their own and eventually acquire their freedom, unlike in the southern systems, there was a high demand for cotton. So enslaved African Americans were forced to work long hours in plantations with harsh climates. They were forced to breed more offspring for more labor, which prevented their ability to create a family. The Southern African Americans were still able to preserve their African roots because they did not learn white rituals and practices like the Northern Blacks.

“Race and the southern Worker,” an article that discusses segregation in the south, by “let nobody turn us around.” on page 183. This article discusses unknown negro women, where she shares her experiences about being African American in the south, especially being a black woman. She addresses how African Americans are being mistreated and affected by the segregation between whites and blacks in her neighborhood. She claims that she and her husband will always be discriminated against by whites for living in that neighborhood. it states, “The people who lived next door received the sympathy of their friends. When we walked on the street (there were no sidewalks), we were embarrassed by the stare of many unfriendly eyes.” This shows that even if many southern African Americans gained freedom, they were still not welcome. This also relates to the article “Time, Space, and the Evolution of Afro-American Society Afro-American Society on British Mainland North America.” by Ira Berlin because we could see how the two plantation systems affected the African Americans who gained freedom in the south. For example, After the civil war, many southern blacks obtained rights. However, the south never wanted slavery to end because they needed slaves for cropping. But they were forced to give up slavery, which caused them to develop the jim crow laws. The Jim Crow laws enforced segregation between whites and blacks in public places and made it difficult for black people to vote. Basically, Southern blacks didn’t gain many rights because they were never seen as free in the eyes of the southern.

Many cultural artifacts, such as poems, songs, paintings, and films, have helped us understand the Africam American experience. But one major Film that I’m going to examine to understand better the different lifestyles African Americans obtained in the three distinctive plantations and expand further into the ira berlin theory. The Film is called “12 years a slave” about Solomon Northup, a free black man living with his family in upstate New York. He works as a carpenter and talented at the violin. His wife works as a cook to help Northup. When one day, Northup was approached by two men Asking him if he could perform in a circus in Washington, D.C, for extra money. Northup Agrees without letting his family know. Unforttully, Both men drugged Northup and waked him up at Williams’s Slave Pen and are placed on the market as a slave. He then was taken to South to Louisiana to be sold to William Ford, a kind minister with a tiny plantation in the Great Pine Trees.
Solomon and his other slaves are handled well by Ford. However, when ford had to pay a debt, he gives Northup to A cruel slave owner named John Tibeats. Tibeats will often beat Northup, But one-day, Northup decides to take matters to his own hands by whipping Tibeatts back. Tibeats wanted to kill Northup, but Ford intervenes to save his life. Tibeats sold Northup to Edwin Epps, a cruel slave master who owns two plantations in Bayou Bœuf. Epps beat his slaves daily no matter what they do. For the next ten years, Northup was forced to work picking cotton since he wasn’t good at it; he was given to do other tasks. Northup fears that he won’t survive long enough to see his wife and kids again. But a carpenter who works for Epps with Northup in a building. The carpenter, called Bass, is an abolitionist. Northup waits for an excuse to chat to Bass alone, and he tells his story to Bass and requests from Bass to take a letter to his family. To say to them where he is being kept as a slave. Bass agrees to get Northup’s wife and Henry Northup’s letters. Henry Northup receives the letter. He makes a plea to the Governor of New York to grant him legal authority to recover Northup, where The governor will eventually agree, and Henry heads to get Northup home.
This Film relates to the Three distinctive slave systems I discussed in “Time, Space, and the Evolution of Afro-American Society Afro-American Society on British Mainland North America.” by Ira Berlin. For example, in the Film, we see how Northup was a free man with a job and a family in the north, but when he was abducted, he was turned into a slave in the South. which reveals the different lifestyles African Americans lived in the North And the South

In this Art, we see how slaves were being forced into cotton fields. Even the young and the old were forced to pick up cotton. As shown in the image, an older woman seems to have trouble walking but still carrying a bag full of cotton. Behind her, we see a man who appears to be very tired due to the long hours they worked under the South’s blazing sun. Also, it shows a very young kid that has only a t-shirt on because slaves were barely given any cloth or food.

lInk to My website: https://multiproject.commons.gc.cuny.edu/art/

work cited

Berlin, Ira. “Time, Space, and the Evolution of Afro-American Society on British Mainland NorthAmerica.” Https://Via.hypothes.is/Https://Docdrop.org/Static/Drop-Pdf/Ira-Berlin_Time-Space-and-the-Evolution-of-Afro-American-Society-Ro1pl.Pdf#Annotations:FHPN4gJlEeurpXNF21dQ8w, Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical AssociationStable URL: Https://Www.jstor.org/Stable/1853424, Feb. 1980, www.jstor.org/stable/1853424.

Marable, M. (1950). let nobody turn us around. In Race and the Southern Worker (2nd edition ed., pp. 183–191). Rowman and Littlefield.

Steve Mcqueen, John Ridley, director, and writer. 12 Sears a Slave. Performed by Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender,River Road, New Regency Pictures, Plan B Entertainment, Aug 31, 2015. SOAP2DAY, https://soap2day.to/movie_aToxMTIxOw.html