Ancient Civilizations Have More Influence In Politics Than Ordinary Citizens

During the Transatlantic Slave Trade, whites established slavery for power and wealth (Aworawo 2001). Through their establishment, whites dehumanized people of color and made them believe that Black people are inferior to Caucasians. Amid the Slave Trade, their belief system spread from Europe to Africa and then to the Americas. In modern times, in the United States, this belief system continues to be prevalent but has evolved into new forms of racial oppression. Today, in society, the idea is represented in several ways, including through micro-aggressive statements, whites stealing intellectual property from Black people, gentrification, police brutality, etc. Minorities have also fallen prey to this repressive mentality. Because of the aftermath and repercussions of slavery, some minorities prefer to be white, and others mistreat their people because they want them to be in worse positions than themselves. The aftermath of slavery has caused both invisible and visible divisions within our society that will take many more years to

However, the introduction of the Atlantic slave trade created a new rung on the social hierarchy. African slaves were treated as animals as opposed to humans. Discrimination and racism were all too prevalent with the development of slavery and led to brutal treatment of many Africans. Slaves were beaten, sometimes without a reason. They were denied rights such as property, voting, and education. They were viewed as complete property of the landowners and their children were not even exempt from living the life of a slave. The development of the Atlantic slave trade system led to a growth of racism in the South and this problem will continue to plague American society in the future.

In America, the lives of Africans did not get any easier. Once the demand for labor began increasing dramatically, more and more Africans were imported to America. Originally, white people and black people worked together in the plantations. As a result of the increase in Africans in these British colonies, less white people took jobs on plantations. Eventually, enslavement became based on race. Numerous slave codes were developed, which included denying slaves the right to be out past sunset and denying slaves the right to meet in groups of three or more. These Africans forced to live enslaved in America were treated as if they were inferior to white people. It is discouraging to think about the fact that this country, though it was long ago, once accepted this kind of social injustice.

Economic, social, and cultural factors all played roles in the expansion of slavery in America. Economically, Africans became free laborers by substituting the position of indentured servants and Native Americans. Socially, blacks were considered outcasts and was treated as property instead of human beings. Culturally, slaves were discriminated against because of their skin and were treated dishonorably wrong. This concludes that "prejudice itself did not create American slavery." (Foner 132,

Whites have always considered themselves superior to blacks, no matter if they were slave owners or not. Blacks were considered lower than humans, making them a main target of oppression of whites. So even when a small group of blacks were given their freedom, they weren’t truly liberated from the chains of slavery and oppression. Blacks were freed in the early 1800s, giving a limited amount of blacks the freedom they deserved. These blacks were usually rural, uneducated, and unskilled domestic servants who had to work hard to survive in the society that shunned them. Free blacks were still given restrictions and laws because of their status in society. In the early 1830s, a law in Virginia was made to prohibit all blacks from getting their education. They even took it to the level where free blacks who went out of state to educate themselves were not able to come back and return to their own state. The worst restriction was that blacks could not testify in court. When a slave owner claimed that a free black was their slave, they could not defend themselves, and would have to conform back to their slavery. Despite the terrible treatment given to blacks, some rose above the oppression and became successful, therefore achieving their goals and potentials of being a free black man, leaving a huge impact on society in the 1800s.

Many laws were created in an effort to ensure a white man’s position over a black man’s position. It was made illegal for an African American to insult any white man regardless of either person’s position (red). Also, slave owners were allowed to punish their slaves in any form they deemed necessary. Often they would punish a slave more harshly in order to show the rest of their slaves the repercussions for their missteps. Southerners also used race to justify the negative claims about slavery. They claimed that the white colonists were civil while the African Americans were barbaric and dangerous. When referring to African Americans, white southerners used language similar to the language used by educated Englishmen while describing the extremely poor (red). This influenced others to believe that African Americans were beneath them, which led more and more people to begin to condone slavery.

In order to grow and retain the institution of slavery in North America, slave owners dehumanized

From the 17th to the 19th century, Europeans enslaved African people and forced them to perform exhausting labor. In A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn described the development of slavery by stating the contributing factors. For instance, settlers coming from Europe would station in Africa to force Africans to go to America and work on the colonists’ plantations. African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco. In addition to being plantation workers, slaves would also work in the houses of their owners as butlers, cooks, and nurses for children. Furthermore, slaves were taken away, against their will, from their families, homes and countries. The conditions that they were expected to endure during the journey in the Middle Passage were horrendous. However, beginning around the 1860’s many people, blacks and whites included, worked to undermine and abolish slavery. They did so because slavery was inhumane and a crime against humanity. Efforts to undermine slavery were not limited to only blacks, as both blacks and whites contributed to the movements undermining and, eventually, abolishing slavery. This collaboration shows that even with ongoing oppression and discrimination, humans are capable of empathy and compassion, and are able to motivate themselves to take actions against the dehumanizing of others. Through songs, defiance, running away, and revolting

Throughout history, African Americans both free and enslaved were not treated equally nor permitted with the same rights as white men. African Americans were enslaved and not allowed to vote or hold public office. Since the 15th century, African Americans have been treated less than human, some even experienced brutal punished for justifiable mistakes. The use of African American slave labor was an enormous contribution to agriculture and labor. It became a part of southern state’s economy within America. Additionally, African Americans were forced or born into slavery where they endured harsh working conditions with zero pay and often times were punished by their masters. Even slaves that became emancipated or paid for their freedom were also treated differently than whites. Notably, blacks did not have the same privileges as whites and were forced to carry a “freedom card” wherever they went. Failing to do so would lead to severe consequences, such as being forced back into slavery. Once African Americans were considered free, they faced additional discriminations such as not being able to vote or serve as a figure in public office. Due to this and additional factors, African Americans were almost entirely incapable of defending themselves against whites. Since the start of the 17th century, African Americans, free and enslaved were punished for their skin color and were considered the lowest scale by not being allowed to the same opportunities and rights and white men.

During the early 1500s and throughout the early 1900s, slavery was committed by white men, against African Americans in order to maintain white supremacy. Slavery consisted of farming, working hard labor, and turning African Americans into servant by their white owners. Enslaved African Americans would not receive any form of money for hard labor because black men and women were thought of as property. Black enslaved and freed men and women were also raped by both white men and women, because white people believed that black people were hypersexual. Many white men believed that it was impossible to rape a black woman because the belief was that black women were inherently rapeable (Block 141).

Until now, black women are still viewed lower than any other women with other color. Fortunately, nowadays men over dominating women with their sexuality is counted as rape and is followed with consequences. It could be seen that just by holding slavery was not powerful enough to take full control of black men and women. They indeed used sexuality to hurt their dignity and identity and lowered them in the society. Slavery changed the definitions of factors that make up society: sexuality, race, and gender (Peiss, 78).

The Colonists thought of making them more “civilized” by removing their natural rights, and enforcing their culture and beliefs onto them. The whites thought of the Blacks as uneducated, and inferior to them. Through many years of harsh mental and physical abuse, African americans were given their freedom, however, their rights was not the same as the whites. Laws like the Jim Crow laws were set to prevent them from interacting with the whites. Segregation rose in schools, public transportations, and even restaurants and

White slave owners took their liberty forcing certain enslaved women to have sex with them; yet it was her fault for being promiscuously laden. The women who resisted the unwelcomed advances were subjected to being brutally beaten and rape. The sexual abuse was a frequent occurrence throughout a given day. Economically, the exploitation of enslaved women continued. They were used as vehicles to create more healthy strong servants to work in the fields, allowing the slave owners to take on more land. Black men were stereotyped as violent, hyper sexed, animals with a propensity to rape. White slave owners used these types of stereotypes to justify their hostility towards black men. It may have also been used to create a perceived fear for white women. The fear of the black man’s sexuality fueled violent lynching such as Emett Till, who was lynched for allegedly whistling at a white

Clash of Power Within every great society there has always been a hierarchy. This establishment of power has been seen from modern times to ancient times. From presidents, kings, queens, counsels, and emperors, some sort of hierarchy has always managed to resemble within every great society. This structure of power seems to influence peace within the society.

By this stage, slave owners had begun to realise that the only way to control slaves was by using violence and threats. A new culture had been introduced: one of black inferiority and white superiority. Many white plantation owners used extreme violence to make their slaves work, as they had no other means with which to control them. They could not reward the slaves by decreasing their length of servitude; the slaves were used for life, and their monetary value was too great for the plantation owners to reprieve them. However, sometimes the violence became so extreme that the slaves died, which decreased the plantation's profit. This use of violence extended to rape of black women and children, mutilation and branding. Rape of slaves produced an inter-race community, although this was violently unstable due to the racial and social discrimination present at that time. The plantation masters branded their slaves so that if they escaped, they would have a mark to show they were fugitive slaves. Families were often split up, to weaken the individual's spirit, and thus their confidence and urge to rebel decreased. The slave owner's greatest fear was of the slaves rebelling, so this method of weakening their reserves of energy and will was found to be effective. The plantation