When did Slaves in the USA learn English?

[Muhammed]

I just finished a part of the book "The Americas" by Sylvia R. Frey and Betty Wood which describes how slaves found it hard to communicate due to cultural and language barriers between them. These barriers persisted which helped the white slave owners since the slaves couldn't organize and revolt.
So the question is when and how did the slaves learn English, and if they did before the Civil War why didnt they revolt?

Probably because most of them had no interest in revolting.

That's absurd. They revolted, rose up, and escaped whenever they could, from the very first Africans brought here five hundred years ago. As has already been documented here. Wtf do you think the Underground Railroad was? A city tourist trap in Atlanta? Why would there be laws all over the place about fugitive slaves? Why was it made illegal to teach blacks English?? Why did slave traders deliberately select mutually nonintelligible language groups and group them together?

All to try to control slave revolts, that's why.

And again, the second independent republic in the Americas was born out of a slave revolt. that would be 1803.

I call bullshit. Less than 1% revolted.

You see here in America they had adequate food and shelter. And they could go to sleep without worrying that a neighboring tribe was going to raid their villiage and slaughter half the people in the middle of the night.

I see you have a troubled relationship with historical fact. What the hell gives you the idea that life in bondage, dehumanization, being sold like cattle, being whipped into submission, having one's family torn apart, being murdered and raped with regularity and impunity, let alone being worked into the ground, would be preferable to your inane fantasy idea of "village raids in the middle of the night"?

Oh and while we're at it --- LINK for your "less than 1%" is where?

Actually I used to think the same thing as you before I educated myself regarding the history.

 

[squeeze berry]

looks like their descendants still have major difficulties still after all these generations

this is an example of a Hillary Clinton voter speaking grammatically correct English

surprise!

 

[xdangerousxdavex]

I think they taught english gradually, transforming their languages into creole languages combining afro-french and hispanic with american english. Besides, many of them were born here what made learning local language much easier. I mean it's easy to learn language when you're a child.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

I just finished a part of the book "The Americas" by Sylvia R. Frey and Betty Wood which describes how slaves found it hard to communicate due to cultural and language barriers between them. These barriers persisted which helped the white slave owners since the slaves couldn't organize and revolt.
So the question is when and how did the slaves learn English, and if they did before the Civil War why didnt they revolt?

Probably started on day 1 of being kidnapped. "Sit there!" becomes easily understood when you get whipped for not "sitting there."

 

[Asclepias]

I just finished a part of the book "The Americas" by Sylvia R. Frey and Betty Wood which describes how slaves found it hard to communicate due to cultural and language barriers between them. These barriers persisted which helped the white slave owners since the slaves couldn't organize and revolt.
So the question is when and how did the slaves learn English, and if they did before the Civil War why didnt they revolt?

The enslaved learned english from illiterate slave drivers. White slave owners wanted them illiterate so they couldnt read. The enslaved did revolt. One of my heroes is Nat Turner. The penalty for revolting was usually the loss of one of your family members which is a great deterrent. In order to effectively revolt I think the enslaved would have been better off not establishing families. White people were particularly sick mentally during those times.

 

[Asclepias]

looks like their descendants still have major difficulties still after all these generations

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Now that's much more like the Appalachian-Southern accent I have around here. You'd almost never hear a black using it (since there weren't many slaves in these here parts). But here again, you've got one flavor of Southern accent forming without African influence. Because Africa is not where it comes from -- England is where it comes from.

Say, how come Lincoln Chafee is driving that tractor?

Exactly. The southern drawl is slowed down british english. I met a girl from england that told me the same thing.

 

[Asclepias]

I think they taught english gradually, transforming their languages into creole languages combining afro-french and hispanic with american english. Besides, many of them were born here what made learning local language much easier. I mean it's easy to learn language when you're a child.

Kids in Africa speak on average 5 different languages.

 

[squeeze berry]

more evidence that the Africans sold the most stupid and brutish to be slaves

genetics

 

[Agit8r]

There had to be enough communication for the chain of command to operate, but the dispersion of learning beyond that depended upon the caprice of the planter. If one slave was descended from a grandparent from Cameroon, and another was from Senegambia, they might not be able to convey anything to one another beyond the most rudamentary of subjects.

 

[Asclepias]

There had to be enough communication for the chain of command to operate, but the dispersion of learning beyond that depended upon the caprice of the planter. If one slave was descended from a grandparent from Cameroon, and another was from Senegambia, they might not be able to convey anything to one another beyond the most rudamentary of subjects.

Some developed a language of their own that is still spoken to this day. Its called Gullah or Geechee. Some of my relatives come from that branch.

 

[Unkotare]

Anthropologist have tracked the southern draw to the slaves. When you a couple hundred thousand people learning a new language.

I know there are several accent variants in the English language.

Same way Jamaican English evolved.

I'm a linguist pal...

.

 

[Unkotare]

I'm a linguist pal, ...

No evidence, no credentials.

 

[Abishai100]

History Twisty-Bread

African-American Ebonics, the predominant pidgin/dialect used by the ethnic minority today (albeit with many regional variations), uses deviant grammatical structures seemingly signifying an intention to create a distinctive form of cultural expression. Many African-American rap musicians singing about ethnic mobility in a Caucasian America deliver their lyrics in Ebonics format.

A major part of the anti-slavery sentiment in pre-Civil War America can be found in the popularized African slave songs such as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." These songs indicate a social interest in casting communication experience of the African-American through the lens of ethnic closure.

A good portion of the slaves brought from Africa to the New World were used in the Rum Trade and generated various folkloric traditions and campfire stories:

"A slave named Nat working in the Rum Trade in Jamaica believed he was haunted by the ghost of his brother Ben who was killed while being transported on the slave ship from Africa. Nat decided to compose a series of special slave songs about his brother Ben. One night while singing, Nat thought he saw the ghost of his brother Ben visit him. The next day, Nat told everyone his brother Ben told him to keep his hair natty and dreaded. Thus was born a new Jamaican dreadlock sea tale."

The linguistic experience of the African-American seems to be indelibly tied to revisionist history. This can either benefit or retard the ethnic minority.




Captain Hook