Black Indians
Read in 11 min.
Listen in 14 min.
Learn the key ideas of the book by William Loren Katz

Black Indians

A history of the alliance between African slaves and Native Americans

Black Indians, by William Loren Katz, takes a close look at certain important chapters of America’s history. Black Indians, a population that arose from the alliance between Native Americans and African former slaves, has been erased from the white population’s standardised interpretation of history. The author gives a voice to a legitimate part of America’s historical legacy, to people and events which have otherwise been consistently forgotten and overlooked.

Black Indians
Read in 11 min.
Listen in 14 min.
IDEA CHIAVE 1/9

Black Indians, who are people with both African and Native American ancestry, played an important role in the history of the United States of America

The history of the United States of America does not give enough importance to Black Indians, so little, in fact, that very few people have even heard of them. These people are African Americans whose ancestors were Native Americans, or lived among Native American tribes for a long time. Their contribution to the development of American society as we know it today has been significant, yet they have always been largely overlooked. Black Indians came about as a result of two fundamental factors: the mistreatment of American Indians and the confiscation of their land, and the slavery of Africans. The author references numerous important people of African and Native American descent in his book, including Crispus Attucks, a patriot who rebelled against British troops and was killed during the Boston Massacre in 1770. He also mentions Frederick Douglass who, after being freed from slavery, became an influential spokesman for Black Americans during the Civil War. His motto ‘if there is no struggle, there is no progress’ gave strength to revolutionary movements and inspired the many activists who came after him, including Blacks, whites, and American Indians. Paul Cuffee, a Native American with African heritage, was a wealthy merchant and ship-owner who was committed to fighting discrimination against African Americans. The story of Crispus Attucks shows that the contribution of Black Indians is not only linked to the liberation from slavery: they also fought against the British in the war for an independent American state. If we are to believe what we read in our history books at school, however, the whites were the only ones to fight in the struggle for independence. History, after all, was written by white people, so it was relatively easy for them to omit the awkward parts.

  

The key ideas of "Black Indians"

01.
Black Indians, who are people with both African and Native American ancestry, played an important role in the history of the United States of America
02.
The numerous African slaves brought to the New World by Europeans joined forces with the local American Indian populations
03.
The African slaves and Native Americans shared many cultural traits, and to a certain extent, shared the same enemy: the Europeans
04.
The coexistence between Black former slaves and the Indigenous Seminole tribe was an example of a strong and successful collaboration against the English
05.
The main Indigenous tribes, with the exception of the Seminoles, also adopted slavery, albeit in different ways from the Europeans
06.
The white population in the United States felt threatened by the Indigenous communities and the many Black former slaves living within them
07.
Despite the immeasurable difficulties, the African-Americans and Native Americans have recently united once more to fight against discrimination
08.
Quotes
09.
Take-home message
 
 
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