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Slavery In North America Essay

1774 Words8 Pages

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” (Martin Luther King Jr). As thousands of people stood around the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and listened to the famous "I Have a Dream” speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr little did they know they were experiencing a part of history that would live on for years to come. Thankfully we live in a world today where racism is mostly frowned upon in American society. In North America, we have never been closer to equality than we are right now. Except, it hasn’t always been this way. Inequality and segregation in the United States has been a deep rooted problem for …show more content…

This is evident through the long battle with slavery, white supremacy groups such as the Klu Klux Klan, and the extreme degree of segregation African- Americans and other minority groups faced. All these important aspect of history allow today’s society to truly understand the motives behind the civil rights movement. Slavery in North America started back in the early 1600’s and was practiced all throughout the United States; concentrating in the Southern regions. Millions of African- American slaves were used to build up the country’s economic status. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the 13th Amendment was put into place that states "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the United States” (13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery par 1). Other amendments were created that allowed African- Americans to vote and become citizens, but these laws were often ignored and not enforced. The slavery in the United States was a brutal time in history. Despite slavery being abolished, the African- American citizens still struggled with protection of these new rights on a federal level. The idea that the country thrived at one point through the sweat and tears of slaves was a major contributor to the motives of the civil rights

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