Slavery in America
Slaves in America were treated poorly. Usually slaves were kidnapped into slavery. A slaves day consisted of working from sunrise to sunset, lived in small stick houses with dirt floors, and had 2-3 very small, bad meals a day. They did not get much sleep because sometimes that had to work earlier than sunrise and after sunset if they did not get the work done that they needed to. They were punished by being whipped, chained, or beating a stick. Some slaves were forced to get married and have kids, but the family could be broken up and sold to another place after marriage or birth. If slaves were caught running away they would either have a severe punishment or put to death. If they did not get put to death, they would be watched and their owner would go much harder on them.
It took until 1865 for slavery to be illegal in the United States with the 13th Amendment to the U.S Constitution. Lincoln hated slavery and he wanted it to end. In 1854, he said that his first instinct would be to free all the slaves and send them to Liberia. (The African state founded by American Colonization Society in 1821.) In 1863, President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring "that all persons held as slaves" within Confederate state "are, a henceforward shall be free." Slavery soon ended in the United
States on June 19th, and the Civil War had ended two months earlier.
Race Relations in America
The legacy of slavery has contributed to racial tensions. It is very hard to forget the history of slavery in our country because slaves were treated horrible. They did not get fed,they had horrible bedding, they got abused, and some of them even got killed. Also, racism might not be happening today if slavery was not in the past. All slaves were colored. If you were white you were not a slave. That is racist and that is partially why racism is happening today.
The one idea I have to improve race relations in America is to have a playground. I want to have a playground that teaches little kids it is okay for another little kid to be colored. To this day, a lot of kids that are colored are only friends with their same color because they think black kids are either mean or they are different so they can not talk to them. Children should learn that it is okay and everyone can be friends with everyone. If there is a playground that both colored and white kids go to, they can play together and hopefully realize nothing is wrong with being friends with one another. I will have a billboard as well and some advertisements to get the word out. I will make it very clear that this playground is meant to show kids not to grow up and be racist.