How to Improve Race Relations
By: Kendall Kirby
Slavery: The Facts
What was the triangular trade exactly? The triangular trade was the three countries, America, Europe, and Africa trading goods like rum to Africa, slaves to America, and tobacco to England. The slave ships were the things that were used to transport slaves from Africa to America and they were often unhealthy, cramped, and uncomfortable. They transported a lot of slaves to America, but why? Well, slaves were so needed in the new world because there was a lot of land and crops that needed tended to and the Americans thought it would be easier and faster if they had someone to take care fo it for them, thus giving them more product, then trading it for more money and slaves. After the whole dispute between the northerners and the southerners, the south still had many many slaves, but how come? The economy in the South was based on plantation and farming, so more slaves means more money, and more money means more slaves, exc. Working on the plantation was very hard for the life of a slave, usually, a slave had to meet a daily goal set by their master for how much cotton they got, if they didn't reach the goal, they were punished. Why did they mostly pick cotton? Well, a woman named Eli Whitney made the invention called a Cotton Gin which could pull the seeds out of cotton automatically and cotton was sold for a lot of money so slave owners forced their slaves to farm it which took a lot of work for the slaves.
Slaves in America were treated poorly. To back up this statement, lets see the life of a slave. First of all, Slaves worked from sunrise to sunset with hardly any breaks. If the slaves disobeyed their master, they would be punished by abuse meaning whips, chains, knifes, anything to make them "learn their lesson". Slaves were very restricted, they weren't allowed to go to church or school in fear they might learn how they're being treated is wrong. Slaves were also treated as property, meaning they were traded, used as currency, and sold like an everyday market item. If they were caught running away, then they were either traded away from the farm or badly abused.
How did slavery end in america? Slavery ended when the North rose up and decided how it was wrong to enslave any man of any race. Lincoln also tried to stop slavery for the most part, which lead to the battle between the North and South states. It was a very long time until slavery was officially banned in 1865, however, blacks and whites were still segregated by having "white only" bathrooms, entrances, drinking fountains, and even whole establishments for a few more years. Luckily today, we don't have segregated anything. Though some people are still racist, the problem has mostly diminished.