Slavery In The 19th Century

In order to have a sound comprehension of the differences between slavery in the nineteenth century and modern day enslavement, as well as the relevance and importance of the history of the slave trade in the twenty-first century, one must look past the apparent similarities in forced employment: manual labor, sex work, and self monetary gain. “For virtually all white Americans were no interested almost all profiting in some way--- financially, psychologically, or both--- from slavery’s growing empire”. Slavery in the nineteenth century was all about economic, political, and social growth for the United States. Near the beginning of the eighteen hundreds, the US was a country who’s wealth did not sustain its population. Slavery was the factory

“1.5 trillion steps would shape seven decades of slavery’s expansion in the new United States… [Profit from slave labor] kept the nation growing” (2). He supports his argument by comparing the state of the US financially and politically post-American Revolution. Fifteen years after the American Revolution, America was in the midst of a massive crisis, it did not have a currency, or the ability to tax. Essentially, it was not well established enough to be a self-sustaining economy. Due to the lack of technological advances at the time, the demand or need for fast, efficient, mass production of agricultural goods was only met by slave labor. Unfortunately, at the time slavery was by far the most efficient method of labor, and it served as a foundation for basic American economics, politics, and social issues. Slavery propelled the United States to the economic powerhouse that it is today largely due to success in the cotton and tobacco industries, so the need for slavery at the time was for rapid economic growth. Slavery at the time was also a huge sign of social status “buying a slave was a way of coming into their own in a society in which they were otherwise excluded from full participation” Buying slaves allowed slaveholders to buy their economic and social independence. The purchase of a

Before, the need for enslaved populations was almost entirely for the purposes of sustainable economical growth of a young superpower. Now, the need for enslaved people shifts largely towards the maintenance of black market sex trade, illegal drug industry, and forced labor industries. Human enslavement is also not racially bias in a majority of cases (Sudan) . The purpose for the continuation of enslaved labor in this era was to meet the demands of the morally corrupt, and for personal gain, rather than the growth of a nation. . “They wear faded, outsized castoffs, and walk barefoot… If you arrive in the afternoon, you may see their tiny necks and delicate skulls straining as they tote five-gallon buckets of water on their heads while navigating broken glass and shattered roads.” The modern day slave is not trapped by government, but by radical organizations spanning from: corrupt sex trafficking organizations, terrorist groups, and low quality mass production factories. There is a large presence of hopelessness that is brainwashed into every modern day slave, best portrayed in Skinner’s account of a description of a prostitute in Ukraine: ““Her head was shrunken, her nose flattened against her face. Mascara ran from pools of tears around deep-set eyes… Her hastily applied makeup could not conceal the evidence of. Down