Slavery Synthesis

African Americans today have come a long way from the institution of slavery. Individuals such as Martin Luther King Jr, William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass have paved the way for African Americans to obtain the same equal rights as white Americans. However, slavery profoundly affects the morals of African Americans as well as their values and the way they engage in modern day society. There were many anti-abolitionists who wanted to continue slavery during the nineteenth century but with the thirteenth amendment slavery was abolished. Although it ended, there were still many different issues that occurred throughout time which should be recognized and fixed.

Although many believe that slavery was a necessity in the southern economy of the nineteenth century, much of the writers during that time could prove otherwise. Defenders of slavery argued that the end of slaves would greatly affect their economic state in the south where slave labor had become a reliance and a foundation to their economy. During this time, "theorists believed that slavery, with its strict and unchanging social hierarchy, made for a more stable society than that of the Northern states where wage laborers of diverse backgrounds engaged actively in democratic politics" (Smith). People justified the use of slavery as a benefit to the south and their higher economic status. Even though the slaves were said to be an essential part of southern economy, many demonstrated that the north was in an even higher position than the south. For example, Frederick Douglass explains in his narrative that he, "had very strangely supposed, while in slavery, that few of the comforts, and scarcely any of the luxuries, of life were enjoyed at the north, compared with what were enjoyed by the slaveholders of the south and came to this conclusion from the fact that northern people owned no slaves" (Source B). The white slaveholders were successful in keeping the slaves longer by eliminating their right to gain knowledge. They used illiteracy as a tool to make sure that slaves remained ignorant of how to rebel and stand up for themselves. This greatly affected African American's future generations in education. The blacks were being segregated from the rest and were not given the same proper education that the whites were receiving. People had to take the initiative and protest against this unjust situation. Public figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. helped with this issue and his attempt in helping his own race rose in fame. Surprisingly there are still issues similar to these in America today. As a result of the effects that slavery had on African Americans, there are over one hundred all black schools in the United States. These American citizens remain segregated in terms of education to the rest of the community without a diverse society. One of the possible reasons for this is to provide a higher education level than what they obtained in the past when they were treated unequal to the white Americans. People of all races should engage in a friendly and diverse community which demonstrates that all men are created equal and should