Slavery

Who would have thought that slavery is still alive and well within the 21st century when more or less civilized parts of the world have long abandoned any kinds of discrimination practices against humans? As of 2010, human trafficking was estimated #31.6 billion of international trade per annum (Haken 8)....

Slavery in Africa differed in some dramatic ways from the new forms of slavery that developed in the New World. One of the starkest differences had to do with racial composition. While most people think of slavery in terms of the New World Model, where a dominant racial group enslaved...

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is an interesting book about the experiences of a slave who was taken from African and shipped to the Americas. This work is a primary source, meaning that it was written by a person who experienced a certain time. With that...

The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 turned to be one of the most significant events in the history of America. Though being rather simple in its mechanism, this machine triggered dramatic changes in American society that especially concerned slavery ideology that acquired a new cycle...

As one of the most outstanding works about slavery in America, My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass discloses numerous significant moral issues. Being the narrative about Douglass’ own life experience, the book demonstrates his long path to escape slavery. The chapters from eleven to twenty-one depict the complexities...

Breen and Innes' Myne Owne Ground is a book that seeks to address the a period in US history in which, according to the authors, an extraordinary level of freedom was achieved by formally bonded black Americans. As such, the book aims to bear witness to belief period of historical...

The historical framework of anti-slavery in America was briefly at the table for discussion during the creation of the United States Constitution but with powerful influences particular to those representing the interests of Colonial Virginia the issue went unresolved. Through strong anti-slavery politics that remained inherent in the northern states...

Melton McLaurin in the book Celia, a Slave, offers a detailed description of the life of a female slave, Cecilia in Calloway County, Missouri. She was purchased as a slave at the tender age of 14 in 1850. Celia the slave kills her master, Robert Newsome and burns his body...

The history of slavery is part of a broader story of human trafficking and forms of slavery exist to this day. The history of slavery which was reformed, such as the trade in African slaves to North America and the Caribbean in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries is not...

12 Years a Slave is a mesmerizing, honest look at a dark time in our nation’s history. The movie examines themes that prove that man has the capability to be extremely inhumane to man. It also illustrates the caring nature of man and the role of fate in determining one’s...

Equality, acceptance, and superiority were terms of regular use by African American activists following the end of slavery and the beginning of the integration of the races. Fighting for these terms to be considered a reality was the typical approach of these activists. Booker T. Washington, however, refused to fight...

In Ama: A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade by Manu Herbstein, explores one of the most significant and difficult eras in human history, when blacks from Africa were traded like material goods for profit. Black men and women of that period were likened to livestock and were not considered...

Quentin Tarantino’s film Django Unchained tackles the difficult historical legacy of American systematic racism, from the perspective of the genre film, in this case, the Western. However, following Tarantino’s own style, the Western also transforms into a theatre of absurdity, to the extent that the violence of the genre is...

Equality is the foundation of freedom. While it appears as though governments throughout history have believed the opposite, consider that all these societies have been both unequal and less than free. Freedom as defined has been reserved for the ruling class or at least the upper classes or those with...

During the 19th century, slavery was at once pivotal to American society and threatening to its stability. An intricate part of the country’s economy, slavery provided much of the country’s workforce and was responsible for a large portion of cash flow; slavery was big business. However, due to continued unrest...