Slavery and the Life of Slaves
Noah Heifner
About Slavery
Slavery is defined as the practice or system of owning slaves. Slavery in America began in the early 17th century and continued for the next 250 years in America. The slaves were normally African. In 1619, the Dutch introduced the first Africans to America, which then planted seeds of slavery in America. Slavery in the U.S.A didn't officially end until Dec. 6, 1865, the day the 13th Amendment was ratified.#endslavery. A slaves life was horrible because if they didn't do their job well then they would get beaten, some slaves would be raped, had to sleep on the floor, were considered as property, and could't really keep themselves clean. Some people back then opposed slavery so they made an underground railroad. The underground railroad wasn't really underground it was a system of secret and safe houses for the slaves if they tried to escape.#history
Why Is My Topic Important
Slavery built America's economy. One of the biggest exports out of America was cotton and slaves were the ones that picked the cotton. Since the demand for more cotton increased so did the number of slaves. So then this led to white people thinking that they were more superior and led to hate and discriminating against a group of people based on their skin color. Then that led to an event called the Civil Rights movement, which changed the course of history in America.#timeforchange
Main Point
The life of slaves represents how horrible slavery was. Slaveholders would punish their slaves whipping them, shackling them, hanging them, and beating them. The slaves also weren't very clean either. Slavery would sometimes cause a slave to leave his wife and family. Sometimes the slaves wouldn't do anything wrong but they would still get beaten because the slave owner wanted to show his dominance.