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How Does Slavery Affect Society

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The philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson said that “slavery is no scholar, no improver; it does not love the whistle of the railroad; it does not love the newspaper, the mail-bag, a college, a book or a preacher who has the absurd whim of saying what he thinks; it does not increase the white population; it does not improve the soil; everything goes to decay.” Emerson’s observation hit the mark because slavery and racism had a negative and a positive impact in shaping and influencing today’s society.
Around 1607 in the Jamestown Colony is where race and slavery began. Slavery was the result of greed, power, narrow-mindedness, and the desire to enact and enforce racist laws, which helped to shape who America is today and continues to haunt America’s ability to move forward. Today, America is still in turmoil over what was the norm and continues to struggle with the success of leaving that image in the past, …show more content…

However, slavery and the end of slavery affected the constitutional law. America’s federal system was developed and influenced by slavery, both morally and politically. Historians have questioned if America was built on the idea of equality and freedom, how did it co-exist with slavery. Slavery was the result of domination, inequality, and oppression not just because of race. Racism then and today is a social issue not a biological issue. However, when race is discussed it is discussed in forms of economic unjust and social inequity. Society and political powers assign superior and inferior statues to those particular racial groups based on their inherited biological traits. These statuses creates the racial tension because of the ignorance and prejudice which ultimately results in economic disparity. Slavery didn’t create the economic disparity instead it created the institutionalization of

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