Slavery in the United States

The statement in this essay would be founded on the subject “Slavery still remains in the United States.” The paper will aim to bring an awareness of slavery in the past United States of America in order to investigate the subject. For example, a detailed description of how the black race became slaves would be given. In addition, the article would address the modernization of slavery, as well as its consequences in both the past and present. The article would also speculate about the economic effects of slavery in both the historical and present United States. The various economic policies formulated in the country as a result of slavery will also be brought up in the essay. Although prohibited by the Constitution of the United States not unless in prisons, slavery still exists in the modern world. The individuals who experience slavery in the modern world do not expose what they face due to fear as opposed to past world where slaves were brave enough to fight for their rights. Although mostly associated with blacks, some whites too do experience slavery. The following sections will be covered by the essay in the due process of addressing the topic in question.

Slavery in the United States and its relevance to modern-day policy discussions

Most scholars of the modern world have claimed that if it were not for slavery, United States would not be a super economic country. Slavery played a great deal in formulating a lot of economic policies in the country thus creating a lot of wealth in America. Slavery was very lucrative to the owners of plantations in the South America. The reason for reaping such huge profits was because of free labor which was readily available. The extra amount that was saved by the plantation owners were used to invest in new businesses hence the rapid growth in the economy. In the modern United States, a lot of economic policies were formulated as a result of slavery. For instance, the ownership of property was purely based on slavery and racial segregation. The fact that blacks were viewed as slaves of whites, they were not allowed to own a lot of properties. The reason for these economic policies was to deter blacks from overpowering the whites financially (Wacquant 57).

Even in the modern United States, most wealthy people are believed to be whites. The high population of individuals leaving in affluent suburbs is the whites. In most Ghettos in the United States, a majority of people leaving in such areas are the blacks. The whites are also given first preference when it comes to jobs allocation and promotions. In the United States, a majority of white children do read in wealthy academy schools. Conversely, black children do attend poor government schools thus portraying the real picture of the modern economic policies in the country (Gorman 34).

An understanding of slavery in the United States in the past world

During the early seventeenth century, slavery was very rampant in the United States. The wealthy elites in the United States used to secure slaves at a very low price. As long as one had money to buy slaves, he was sure of obtaining free labor from them. Africans were sold into slavery like commodities in the market. After buying the slaves, they used to work in poor conditions so long as the owner got profits from his investment. Plantation owners benefited a lot from slavery trade during the early 17th century. They would quickly secure people to work in their plantations thus increasing profits generated from the farms. Hence, the financial gap between the rich white people and the blacks continued widening day in day out. The few whites who worked in the factories and plantations were well paid thus shifting wealth to only one race (Wacquant 58).

During the early 17th century, slavery brought a lot of impacts, especially on the American economy. The American economy highly improved because of the high profits generated by the factories and plantations. It, therefore, meant an increase in money supply to the economy. Through the cash generated, the government of the United States was able to improve infrastructure which meant an increase in investments. Good infrastructure helped in welcoming investors from many parts of the world. The American market was flooded by wealthy people thus increasing the money supply in the United States. The fact that there was an increase in money supply in the market, it meant that government services were offered correctly. Therefore, the presence of slavery in the United States played a crucial role in boosting the economy of the country (Gorman 42).

An understanding of slavery in the United States in the present world

In the current United States, there is a lot of slavery taking place. A lot of people have undergone treatments that have no difference with those of slaves. For instance, there are certain people from Africa and other developing countries in the world that come to the United States without proper documentation of citizenship. These individuals do stay closed down in a certain location due to the fear of being deported to their countries. When in the United States, these people work for very low wages that cannot match those of United States residents. In the prisons too, a majority of black people are arrested for no reason so that they can work for free. In most cases, police officers ambush a group of young black people and arrest them without any offense. Prior reaching the court of law, they are prosecuted for the mistakes that they did not do thus sending them into prisons. In the prisons, it is the only place where slavery is legalized by the Constitution of the United States (Nichole 56).

The modern slavery taking place in the United States has profoundly contributed to the economic development of the country. For example, when the people from Africa and other developing countries in the world come to work in the United States, they get paid low wages. The surplus profit is used by the investors to add businesses meaning an increase in money supply into the economy of the United States. People being jailed also play the role of cleaning the environment and taking part in community work which helps in shaping the country_x0092_s economy (Diego & Alexandra 120).

The comparison of slavery in both the past and present United States

Similarities of slavery in both the past and present United States

In both the eras, slavery was used to help the owners of production to have a higher profit. The fact that slaves in the past were working for free, it meant that the owners of production, as well as plantations, had surplus income necessitated by the free labor available. From the surplus income, investors could open other new investments thus increasing the rate of money flow in the United States economy. In the modern United States, slavery is also used by owners of production for the purpose of gaining surplus profits. When people from developing countries come to work for low wages, it means an increase in profits generated by the investors. The extra incomes accrued by the factories are used for further investment thus strengthening the United States economy (Nichole 63).

Differences between slavery in the past and present United States

During the early 17th century, slaves used to be acquired through trade. Selling people into slavery used to be a normal business among people. After buying the slaves, they were expected to perform a lot of duties since they were bought for such reasons. Some of the people sold into slavery were not willing to work in such harsh conditions. For the matter of fact, most slaves were kidnapped from their countries and sold into slavery without their will. As opposed to that, modern United States slavery is exercised through the willingness of the individual him/herself. They are not forced into joining the jobs but do them willingly. Another difference comes in the payment of the slaves. In the early 17th century, slaves were not paid any single penny while in the modern world people who work as slaves do get paid although lower wages (Diego & Alexandra 127).

Conclusion

Both the past and present slavery play a crucial role in shaping the economy of the United States. The number of people who worked as slaves did a lot of work. For fear of being beaten or denied food, the slaves had to work with all their efforts. The fact that in both past and modern slavery people worked with a lot of efforts meant an increase in profits accrued by the owners of production. Concurring with the accusations of many modern-day scholars, the firm economy of the United States is purely built upon the fruits of slavery. Securing free labor played a lot of merits in the due process of increasing investments in the country.

Works Cited

Diego, Hernandez and Alexandra Rudolph. “Modern day slavery: What drives human trafficking in Europe?” European Journal of Political Economy 38 (2015): 118-139.

Gorman, Tessa. Back on the Chain Gang: Why the Eighth Amendment and the History of Slavery Proscribe the Resurgence of Chain Gangs, 85 Cal. L. Rev. 441 (1997). Available at: http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/californialawreview/vol85/iss2/4

Nichole, Flores. “Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery.” Proceedings of the Catholic Theological Society of America 71.1 (2016).

Wacquant, Loic. From Slavery to Mass Incarceration: Rethinking the _x0091_Race Question_x0092_ in the US, New Left Review 13 January-February (2002), pp. 41-60 Available at: http://antiracistalliance.com/FromSlaverytoMassIncarceration.pdf