Slavery: A Part of America´s History

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Slavery is a very touchy and uncomfortable topic for many of us. It was a harsh, degrading, and painful part of American History, but due to the suffering of so many African Americans, laws were written and placed into action that we still live by today. Slavery has been a very important part of our history. It is the very reason that our country has evolved into a country of freedom and equality. The laws that have been written by our ancestors are why the United States is the melting pot that it has become with the diversity of cultures, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. Believe it or not, we (our country) went through the ugly part of our culture to get to what is now set up to protect not only Americans, but many people that now live in the United States today that are not quite American citizens. Slavery by definition is where people were imported, bought, sold, stripped of freedoms and treated as property. African American slaves worked on plantations and farms. They harvested crops of food and cotton. Some slaves were allowed to work in the masters’ homes. They were called “domestic slaves”. Most slaves worked in the field from sunrise to sunset 6 days per week. Slaves lived in slave quarters which were small shacks with dirt floors. Slaves were mistreated by their masters. If slaves were caught trying to run away, they were beaten with whips, hanged by ropes, sold or killed by other means as an example to other slaves. Frederick Douglass and Harriet A. Jacobs gave real life stories of what it was like to live as a slave. Frederick Douglass (February?, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was a former slave who escaped and became an abolitionist. He wrote the book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an Americ... ... middle of paper ... ...ultures, ethnic backgrounds, and religions that our European, Asian, and African ancestors brought to the United States. Many families traveled to the United States from other countries for better opportunities based on our laws and freedoms. Our country represents the possibility of living a dream. My purpose is to show that slavery of African Americans is a very negative part of American History, but today we have become a country that works hard on protecting the freedoms and equalities of everyone. Are we perfect? Absolutely not, but our country is a wonderful country that protect the rights of many. We are constantly changing with the times and sometimes change is not easy for some people, but we push through. We should appreciate the people in our history that saw people that were mistreated, saw an opportunity to make it right and made a positive change.

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