Watched African American Lives 2 last night and found out something I did not know...

[IndianaJones]

Several Native American tribes owned slaves and some slaves had freedom delayed beyond the end of the Civil War. Some of these former slaves did not achieve recognition for decades. Actor Don Cheadles ancestors were part of this group of African Americans without a country.

Chris Rock found out that one of his forefathers fought in the Civil War and was an elected representative in South Carolina. He said that if he had known this, he may not have become a comedian.

Great stories of the families of Morgan Freeman, Tina Turner, Tom Joyner and others as well. I highly recommed watching if you get a chance.

[CatWoman]

1. I'm sorry I missed it last night; hopefully the rerun will come this weekend

however, I knew about Natives owning slaves. Hell, even some African Americans owned slaves.

Read Lucinda Davis' story: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/index.html

Oh, and some of the PBS series is available online: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_africanamericanlives2_2008-02-07

[aquart]

4. It's PBS. There will be reruns. Many many reruns.

[TahitiNut]

2. It was a fascinating program.

I must admit to getting teary-eyed a couple of times ... along with Chris Rock.

Yes, the Five "Civilized" Indian Nations owned slaves after the end of the Civil War. It should also be noted that Don Cheadle's ancestor, owned by the Chickasaw Nation, was also deeded the heralded "40 acres and a mule" after being granted his freedom ... something the Native American nations did that the Amercian nation did not.

I was also fascinated by Morgan Freeman's ancestors ... where his great-great-grandfather was a white employee of a slaveowner and fathered five children by a slave and then married her when she was freed. The pictures of the tombstones were VERY evocative.

[IndianaJones]

8. The picture of the tombstones was moving. nt.

[aquart]

3. Wait. I saw a show that traced the DNA of Oprah and others.

One was a lady astronaut. But I don't remember Morgan Freeman in that bunch and I think I would remember anything to do with Morgan Freeman. Is this a new show doing the same thing as the other one?

[CatWoman]

5. That was the first installment of the series

The one that aired last night is the 2d installment.

[grantcart]

6. There were also free African Americans that owned slaves

[alfredo]

7. I know the Lexington Van Meter's from that show. Unlike their

ancestors, they are kind and caring people. They seemed to spend much time helping others. Maybe they are trying to make amends for their family's past.

[ulysses]

9. watched some of that, tivoed the rest.

Ms Uly watched more than I did - it does look really interesting.

[knitter4democracy]

10. As a history teacher I taught with once said,

"Most of our African American students's families have been here far, far longer than most of our white students' families." I had never thought of it before, but he was right. Mom's family came after the Civil War, and so did my dad's mom's and dad's families. We haven't been here very long, definitely after importing slaves from Africa mostly stopped. They are the real Americans, then, eh?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Indeed, a book on African-American history that was used in college classes

in my day was called Before the Mayflower, and it was a reference to the seven Africans who were brought to the Jamestown colony in 1609 (the Mayflower arrived in 1620.)

I didn't see the show last night (choir singing at Ash Wednesday service) but our second PBS station is showing it tonight. The first installment was really interesting.

[eppur_se_muova]

12. Some interesting history of Spanish slavery here ...

http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_florida_slavery.htm

Spanish Slavery versus English Slavery

Their experiences fighting the Muslims in the 1400s shaped the Spanish view of slavery, which they viewed to be accidental and unnatural rather than a hereditary condition. Following the Moorish Wars, the Spanish and Portuguese imported 100,000 slaves to the Iberian Peninsula. These African slaves assimilated into the Iberian population, and, consequently, the peninsulars (Spanish-born settlers) who colonized Florida typically had at least one African great-great grandparent.

Both the law of the Catholic Church and the Spanish legal code, the 13th century Siete Partidas of King Alfonso X, regarded slaves as humans rather than property. Although Spanish officials assessed slaves on inventories (compiled for wills, lawsuits, and estate settlements) and priced them for sale, they still viewed slaves as moral and legal entities rather than mere commodities (or, as the Dred Scott case would define them, property). The Partidas protected slaves from abusive masters or freeman, and even provided for the removal of slaves from heinous masters. It also allowed slaves to testify in court against their masters.

Because marriage is a holy sacrament of the Catholic Church, it conferred sanctity upon the family unit and prevented the breakup of families. A study of 150 slave sales in West Florida between 1785 and 1800 revealed no instance of a mother being separated from children under the age of 12. However, slave children did cross a legal threshold around age six when assessors assigned them monetary value independent of their mothers.

The cedula (royal proclamation) of 1526 provided that any slave could purchase his or her freedom or coartación. Because church law required that slaves be given holy days off, and there were many such days on the Catholic Church’s calendar, slaves had the opportunity to earn money during this free time. Since the average freedom price was around 400 pesos and daily wage rates were between one-two pesos, it took a long time for slaves to purchase their freedom. Although rare, manumission occurred more frequently under Spanish law than British law.

I seem to recall that "Lies My Teacher Told Me" mentioned that African slaves who escaped in the vicinity of St. Augustine assimilated into Native American tribes, and thus became the first post-Columbian settlers from the Old World.

[knitter4democracy]

13. I'd read some of that in a class in college.

Nineteenth Century Spanish American Lit. Boring but for the interesting parts on racial issues.