hook for slavery essay

hook for slavery essay

Slavery and its Impact on Society

1. Introduction

For centuries, the issue of prejudice towards people of certain races has been the focus of many heated and emotional debates. These people who were being prejudiced were the people of African descent who lived in the United States during the 19th century. Slavery in the United States has become the point of countless arguments, especially in the academic world. This is because slavery was and still is the most severe form of exploitation of human beings, next to war. The fact that it has been carried out for such a long period of time is what makes the issue of slavery so unique. In terms of the United States, the issue of slavery was a great global issue. Slaves were transported from different areas of the world into the New World. The Europeans who brought over the slaves had many objectives, as well as many destinations, for their slave trade, but the purpose of the European slave trade in America was to use the slaves for free labor on the colonies. This was a practice that was rapidly expanded, and this is why the era of American slavery is so well known and such a debated topic. The cruel treatment of African Americans is what has made the issue so controversial. But what makes it even more controversial is the far-reaching effects of slavery. We can see them in today’s society. This is why learning about the impact of slavery is important because it can better help us to understand most of the inequities that are experienced by people.

2. Historical Background of Slavery

The historical background of slavery in the United States and elsewhere touches on systems of inequality around the world. There are vast differences in the way slavery was enacted in different areas. This requires further research beyond just American slavery. Slavery has existed in many societies since the beginning of time, and traces can be found as far back as the 9th and 10th centuries. However, the institution of slaves and the enslavement of a race has colonial roots. Slavery did not become a racial caste system in North America for many years. Usually, it became hereditary after the slave was born, and the child of the slave would become a slave. This happened in European colonies on Caribbean islands, and the fact that a person could be born a slave had major implications. The slave laws that were made in Colonial America improved the conditions of slaves and marked them as a people who could be controlled indefinitely. Around 1700, the situations for English and African serv

3. Effects of Slavery on Individuals and Communities

The effects of slavery on individuals and communities can be profound and long-lasting. Slavery has been found to have a far-reaching effect on the mental and physical health of the slaves. For example, Thomas Szasz argues that slavery causes mental illness and is therefore immoral and ought to be abolished. Whether slavery causes mental illness is open to question: certainly, it is clear that the conditions in which many slaves have lived and worked have often subverted their autonomy and damaged their mental health. According to this argument, any system that discounts, marginalizes, and adversely affects the autonomy of an individual to a significant degree harms that individual. In many cases, it harms them to the point of pathology. Moreover, the effects of the slave trade are still being experienced among Africans in the West Indies and the Americas. Behrendt points out that Africa was bled dry of a large part of its most able-bodied population, with negative effects on the area’s social, economic, health, and education issues. Many of the problems in Africa today, health, political, and financial, he argues, can be traced back to the loss of vast numbers of their population during the slave trade.

Claude Meillassoux wrote an influential book on African slavery in which he argued that free cheap labor had become essential to the functioning of European capitalist economies, as free workers could exit out of an exploitative situation. This was making the African population a valuable commodity that could not afford to be lost. Therefore, it resulted in the enslavement of Africans in countries such as Angola and Mozambique, in an indigenous slavery system. The loss of this workforce to the slave trade, the disruption of many societies, and the economic and social effects of this period in many areas are still seen as factors in poverty in Africa today. He made particular reference to the mechanization of the sugar industry, meaning that the French islands were importing increasing numbers of African slaves at the end of the seventeenth century to meet the rising demand for labor. This industry was highly detrimental to the lives and health of the slaves and led to a loss of male population and reproductive capacity in Africa. So, the effects of the slave trade choke the development of many nations and continue to be a cause of poverty and suffering today.

4. Abolition Movements and the Fight for Freedom

The abolition movement started in the 1830s in the northern United States. It prohibited further slavery in the westward expansion of America. The north and the south had come to a standstill. Neither could truly be considered an influential power in the decision to whether or not allow slavery in this new territory. Texas is, of course, a different story, as its accessibility was strictly through the south. Finally, after much debate, the south gained the tremendous victory it had sought after in the decision of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This viewing slavery suitable for popular sovereignty shattered the hopes of so many that had worked to prohibit slavery in the western territories. In the wake of this occurrence, the abolition movement was already exceptionally strong. Many people in the North particularly found the decision preposterous and took action. During this period of time, the conflict over slavery was never higher. Tensions between the north and south climaxed and many abolitionists reported story after story of being assaulted or harassed by southerners. For years to come, there was no definite change, however, the abolition movement carried influence and made northerners consider the problems of racial prejudice. With the onset of the Civil War, abolitionists became more and more militant, calling for an immediate end to the war and victory to the Union. This was because it was now becoming clear that the north was not fighting to end slavery but merely to keep the union intact. This was not acceptable to an abolitionist, and it was in part to their moral fervor that President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This marked the turning point of the abolition movement and with the north in full war against slavery, both free blacks and runaways joined the fight in mass numbers for the Union Army. Finally, in 1865, the 13th amendment was ratified and this dark time in history was finally at an end.

5. Legacy of Slavery in Modern Society

Racial groups depend in different ways and influences upon the second and third-generation survivors of slavery and the newly arrived African immigrants. Social trauma is a key element, and ‘shifting attitudes’ towards the Black community – both negative and positive – are often rooted in unconscious attitudes towards the historical identity of such racial groups in relation to British Whites. Many racial and ethnic minorities are integrated into the fabric of British culture through the provision of services. However, the African experience of social slavery means that Blacks are the only racial group who were forced into adopting the social patterns of behavior of the dominant White group. This constant imitation and the created myth of racial superiority have led to the formation of a distinct Black identity, which will always be linked to enslavement and its history. This social identity is often a source of conflict and division among Black and White populations.

While numerous studies examine the historical impact of American slavery, there are few examining the denied upstanding, social and monetary legacies made by the set up and danger of Black residents in the UK. The legacies of British bondage have domestic and worldwide ramifications, including issues of competition, racial and social identities, and a more extensive African identity. Today, individuals of African heritage are still attempting to accommodate these enduring legacies of the slavery time frame, and it is the all-inclusive acknowledgment of bondage and its social inheritance that can truly incorporate Black and White culture and multicultural societies. Bondage and the resulting battle for liberation were to separate communities and create differences within Britain, and in present-day society, we see many of these divisions and disparities being past traces of the slavery time frame. It is also important to recognize that many other ethnic minority groups have their own unique struggles and social experiences, but it is safe to say that Black families and communities have some of the most outstanding social differences compared to the White indigenous population.