Capitalism and the Making and Unmaking of Black America (African American Past, Session 04)

“Capitalism and the Making and Unmaking of Black America” grapples with the complex and often painful history of the effects of capitalism on African American work lives, using a range of contexts and stories, from America’s first black millionaire to the ongoing problem of poverty in urban and rural America.

This session took place on Friday, May 20, 2016, at Warner Bros. Theater, National Museum of American History. It was part of The Future of the African American Past, a landmark conference concerning “what comes next” in the study of African American history. The conference took place on May 19-21, 2016, and was co-hosted by the American Historical Association (AHA) and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).

About the AHA: The American Historical Association is the largest professional organization serving historians in all fields and all professions. The AHA is a trusted advocate for history education, the professional work of historians, and the critical role of historical thinking in public life.

About the NMAAHC: The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. It was established by Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans. To date, the Museum has collected more than 36,000 artifacts and nearly 100,000 individuals have become charter members. The Museum opened to the public on September 24, 2016, as the 19th and newest museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

00:12 - Introduction by Lonnie Bunch (NMAAHC) and Jim Grossman (AHA)

03:14 - Steven Hahn (University of Pennsylvania) discusses the exploitative impact of capitalism on African American communities, and alternately how African Americans seized opportunities to turn capitalism to their own advantage.

12:07 - Adrienne Monteith Petty (City College of New York) argues that black landownership was more important to the black freedom struggle than previous narratives have suggested, pointing particularly to how black sharecroppers served as the “vanguard” of economic justice in the South.

23:03 - Shane White (University Of Sydney) highlights forgotten narratives and successes in nineteenth-century black business life, centering on Wall Street’s first African American millionaire, Jeremiah Hamilton.

34:03 - Eric Arnesen (George Washington University) discusses how African Americans challenged trade union exclusion from postwar emancipation to the civil rights movement.

50:41 - William Julius Wilson (Harvard University) discusses the social impact of jobless-driven poverty and black male engagement with American capitalism.

Resources:
• Joseph Vargas v. Jeremiah G. Hamilton, Equity Case Files of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York, 1791-1846, National Archives, Microfilm Publications, M884, Roll 14, x-116;
• "The Only Black Millionaire in New York," Frederick Douglass' Paper, March 1852
• "Death of a Colored Millionaire," Hudson Evening Register, May 20, 1875
• “Leader of March on Capital Links Freedom and Jobs,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 26, 1963
• Testimony of A. Philip Randolph, “Federal Role in Urban Affairs. Part 9.” Hearings before the Subcommittee on Executive Reorganization of the Committee on Government Operations. US Senate, Eighty-Ninth Congress, Second Session, December 6, 1966 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1967), 1994.