Race Relations in America
Written by: Paige McCoy
About Slavery
Slaves in America were treated poorly. The typical day of a slave is they would work from 15-16 hours per day, 6 days out of the week and maybe more, and they got Sundays off. The slaves got punished if they weren't doing what they were supposed to doing. Their owners would whip them until they feel the need to stop. Slaves felt the need to run away, so they tried to. sometimes they were barley successful and most of the times they were not. If the slaves got caught running away they would get whipped pretty harshly. The slaves were not aloud to read or wright. They couldn't go to school or even attend church.. Only if there was a special event going on and their owner felt the need to let them go. Living life as a slave wasn't easy at all.
It took until 1865 for slavery to be illegal in the United States with the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In 1976 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. In 1777 New York enfranchises all free propertied men regardless of color or prior servitude. In 1808 United States Bans Slave Trade Importing African Slaves is outlawed, but smuggling continues. And in 1847 Fredrick Douglass's Newspaper escaped slave. Fredrick Douglass begins publishing the North Star in Rochester, New York.
Plan to improve Race Relations
The legacy of slavery has contributed to these racial tensions. It's difficult to forget what happened 150 years after the 13th amendment because it's from our past and it's one of the worst things that could of happened in America. People can't forget about slavery because it was abusive and was completely wrong to treat people a different way just because of their skin color. All men and woman were created equally right? Well not according back then because people thought it was okay to treat blacks differently and hit them for no good reason. But the slave owners whipped the slaves sometimes for their own amusement and that wasn't okay.
The one idea I have to improve Race Relations in America is to make a movie. I think my idea will be a good idea because I will talk about how they treated the blacks differently, how they couldn't go to school, or how they couldn't read or wright etc. I want to make it clear on how slavery wasn't right and on how disrespectful the whites were to the blacks. I will be making this movie to show how wrong slavery was. I want the people to tell me their thoughts on my movie. At the end of my movie I would have a closed box with a slit for paper to fit trough it. I would say to please fill out a piece of paper with one word describing my movie. Then I would make a servery to see if people thought it was a good movie or a bad movie. I hope my idea works out well and that people will take this as a serious topic of my choice.