8 Ways Slavery Affected Black Families And Still Has An Impact Today

Broken Traditions African family traditions, which varied according to national origin and religion, could not be replicated in the New World after Africans were forced into slavery. The slave trade was responsible for breaking up African families. Husbands, wives and children could be sold separately because U.S. law did not legally recognize their families. Broken Families Enslaved Black people were denied a secure family life. Because they were property and could not legally marry, a permanent family could not be a guaranteed part of enslaved people's lives. They had no right to live or stay together, no right to their own children, and it was common for enslaved parents and children to live apart. Illiteracy Schooling was not an option for enslaved children, and, in most states, it was illegal to teach enslaved Black people to read and write. Unpaid Workforce This use of unpaid labor to produce wealth lay at the heart of slavery in America. Enslaved people usually worked from early in the morning until late at night. Women often returned to work shortly after giving birth, sometimes running from the fields during the day to feed their infants. Broken Legacy Enslaved families were also divided for inheritance when an owner died, or because the owners’ adult children moved away to create new lives, taking some of the enslaved people with them. Mortality Rate More than one-half of Black infants died before they were 1 year old. This mortality rate was almost double that of whites. Although the survival rate improved after enslaved children reached a year of age, their mortality rate continued to be double that of whites until they were 14 years old. Soldiers' Lives During the Civil War, approximately 180,000 Black soldiers served in the Union army. The families of these soldiers frequently camped in makeshift villages near the army to be near their husbands, sons and fathers. The soldiers assisted them as they could — sharing food and clothing from their own military rations when possible Rape of Women Slave women were constantly sexually abused by white men, and they had no legal right to resist that abuse. “To oppose the rape of Black women in effect meant opposing slavery. A Black woman’s body was not considered her own. Control over her body was passed from white person to white person along with a bill of sale.”

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