The African Burial Ground Essay

On Friday , October 9,2009 my class took a trip the African Burial Ground at 290 Broadway . While Ranger Tamika was talking I've asked myself questions,like "Why did whites take West Africans as slaves?" and "How come whites couldn't make machinery?". Also at the presentation I heard alot of facts. For example,whites took Africans from Ghana,Ivory Coast,and Nigeria.The reason they took Africans was because Native Americans were all dying from diseases and they saw that Africans withstanded diseases and climatic conditions.416 slaves were buried behind wall street .At each funeral there was a maximum party of 12.Only celebrated at dusk because slaves were most likely to be found if they tried to runaway. One man,slave 101 had a Samkofa engraved/nailed on his coffin. Also in 1991 construction workers found bones under their construction site. When I heard that I've asked myself "How did they know they were African American Bones ?". The truth is that they were researched at Howard University in Washington DC. There was also evidence .For example , on one woman there were were African beads on her waist . This important because it makes us want to have sympathy for African ancestors. Also just seeing pictures of them makes you feel their pain. Without our African ancestors the New York surroundings in the past would have never been the same. We should learn about our ancestors.We should learn about them because without knowing the past we cant know whats going to happen in the future.