Prompt: We made a fictional history book. Below is the summary of a chapter from this books that talks about different aspects of American life as if the Slave Trade never happened. Below the fictional chapter summary there is an explanation of how US history is different than our fictional US history book. American History Chapter 1.1 Summary: American Culture Music-Spirituals were songs composed and sang in the early history of America by slaves that worked in farms. The authors of such melodies were of different cultural backgrounds and therefore spoke different languages. Slaves varied from native americans, native Mexican, native brazilian, chinese slaves, and war slaves from different parts of Europe. Since these groups of people did not share one language in common they created a way to communicate their feelings, struggles, wishes, and at times little hope with each other. This language was music, specifically called spirituals. Spirituals in essence were the unison of musical instruments and at times voices that shared common themes such as tragedy, sadness, tiredness, resentment, and at times courage. As one might imagine these melodies were mainly only musical having a great variety of instruments and had little to no words. If words were present they were normally in the language of the author or of the author’s choice. Spirituals played a big role in our history because it is one way in which all these cultures were united and how they eventually found freedom in our country. Food- Slaves from China and Latin America had a very high influence on the contemporary food consumed within the United States. A majority of the dishes that are prepared contain rice. Plantains, Guava,Chayote Squash, Mangos, soybeans, seaweed, and bok choy are popular foods in the U.S.. Dishes such as tortillas, tamales, tacos, pupusas, and arepas are also served in many households. Sports: Popular sports today include football, baseball, basketball, and soccer. Although each is popular to different groups, they are prominent sports in the United States. Baseball has origins tied to cricket, which came from Europe. Basketball and football were late inventions in the U.S. itself. Soccer’s popularity stems from Spanish colonists that settled in the south and west of the United States. Life and Language in the North and the South: The North with its English colonial influences has larger cities. The cities have higher population concentrations and are very industrialized relative to the South. The Infrastructure is sprawling with large communities usually based on neighbors, families and economic class. The South has a very agrarian and mineral based economy with smaller towns and a looser infrastructure. This loose infrastructure and diversity of spoken language (English, Spanish, French, Creole and some indigenous) helped the North triumph in freeing the Southern slaves. This made it difficult for the South and some of the damages can still be seen. The South did bounce back though, at first through share cropping. Now the economy of the South is chiefly based on corn production, coal and natural gas extraction, and some tourism. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Spirituals were present during the time the slaves were present in the US. They were African American monophonic and a cappella songs that usually had religious theme. Spirituals are the ancestor of what we know today as blues. Through spirituals people were able to provide comfort and distract their minds from the fact that they were slaves ("African American Spirituals”). Sports in the U.S. would not be different. The Slave Trade did not bring sports from or to Africa as part of trading slaves. Soccer was already present in Africa. Baseball, basketball, and football introduced by colonists did not gain popularity in Africa. The development of football, baseball, and basketball occurred after the Slave Trade. Overall the slave trade had a large impact on the way the United States is today. The slaves in which came into the U.S didn’t just benefit the slave owners , they brought prosperity to the country as a whole. Think about it , the music in which you listen to , the food in which you eat, the words that you speak , what you watch on t.v, are all influenced by slaves. Without the slave trade the U.S would have very similar culture to that of Britain,but due to the exposure of slaves we have so much diversity within our culture. Chinese slaves brought rice seeds and knowledge of its production. The Latin American slaves influenced the maize based dishes that were commonly served in American households. Both Latin American and Chinese cuisines brought a variety of fruit and vegetables within the United States and other crops that were traded with slaves that brought them to the United States. Without the use of African slaves, the English probably would not have come along and dominated the south and it would likely still have major Native, French and Spanish influences. Regardless, the south would have industrialized slower and probably found someone to enslave. The North likely would have developed and industrialized much the same. The major difference is that the south probably would have had a different culture, but economically would have been similar. The civil war probably still would have happened for the reasons. The participants would have likely been different but the dynamic, similar. Sports sources: http://www.wbsc.org/history-of-baseball/ https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/who-we-are/the-game/ http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0875085.html http://www.athleticscholarships.net/history-of-soccer-football.htm Music section sources: "African American Spirituals." African American Spirituals. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017 Raboteau, Albert J. "The Secret Religion of the Slaves." Christian History | Learn the History of Christianity & the Church. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. Priscila’s imagination for the first paragraph. Food Sources: http://nbclatino.com/2013/10/17/latino-other-ethnic-influences-changing-americas-food-choices/ http://www.asian-nation.org/asian-food.shtml Life and Language in the North and the South sources: "Colonists." Annenberg Learner. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. Jaffee, Author: David. "Industrialization and Conflict in America: 1840–1875 | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.