Like William, I was also surprised to find out how big of a role slavery had in the North. In my history classes, the lessons made it seem as if the North was a completely slave free zone. Now that I have a more complete idea of how the North was originally established, I can see that the opposite is the case. Although the North was made to seem like the “good guys”, it seems as if Northerners only used the slaves up until a point. Only when the initial land was established and trade prospered, did the use of slaves seem to gradually lessen.
I do think that New York would be completely different if not for the arrival of slaves. The obvious reason is because man labor is need to build something from scratch. New York is so extravagant now, but it wouldn’t be that way if some elbow grease wasn’t put into it. Another reason is because slavery meant that the African race would be introduced to North America. Now that we are hundred years into the future, you can see the effects of this. America is now a mixture of races and ethnicity. This was the start of the “salad bowl” we talked about earlier.
Another factor of the diversity is trading. Slavery was part of this large trade effort first established by the Dutch East Indian Company. I think these articles, especially Binder.Reimers’s book show us the significance of trade. Because America was open to it, we now experience cultures from around the world. Compare this with China and you can see the difference. Because China resists outside influence, their national pride is extremely strong and traditions are especially upheld. America, as a whole, however, seems largely mixed. You can now find Asian food with Spanish mixes and influences. This is the norm here.
