Tyranny: Slavery Of the 21st century
The last twenty-six years have been the most painful years for the Eritrean people. For more than two decades Eritreans went through the most brutal acts of evil. Here, I would like to share my personal experience and testimony.
I vividly remember the colourful and joyful day when Eritrea was liberated from the Ethiopia rule in 1991. Though I was only six-years old my memory is still clear, and I remember the joy and happiness that Eritreans expressed then. We were literally stayed in the street singing, dancing and breathing a fresh air of freedom. Two years later, in 1993, Eritrea was recognized as a free country by the UN.
At the time, the whole nation was united and celebrated its independence; for the first time in the history of the country, Eritrea was going to be led by its own people. Citizens from all walk of life: farmers, professionals, religious leaders, and everyone else eagerly and ready to cooperate with the newly self-appointed government in Asmara. Even the Diaspora Eritreans started to come back to their country with big dreams and plans to permanently settle in the country and support the government in building the nation. The reality however was quite the opposite.
For the last twenty-six years, the self-appointed government had done all in its power by controlling the people and killing the dream of many. Furthermore, relative to the available resources, the potential of the country and the needs of the people, no substantial progress had been achieved in terms of development. Ironically, Eritrea has a long coast in the Red sea, it has two seaports, valuable minerals, and most of all, a very hard working, well cultured and God-fearing people—a sound base of any country’s progress. Instead, the government built a wide network of prisons and secret detention centres. It also carried out arbitrary and random arrests. Furthermore, if launched a forced labour program and violated the citizens’ basic human rights. Consequently, Dec 2015 the UN accused the Eritrean government of violating human rights.
Some of the serious violations committed by the government against the people includes the closing churches and arresting religious leaders and members of
Researchers found that more than ten thousand people are in forced labor across 90 US cities. These people are forced to work in sweatshops, clean homes, work on farms, or work as prostitutes or strippers. Many of these cases are accumulated in areas with large immigrant populations, like California, New York, and Florida. Most of the victims of forced labor are “imported” from 38 different countries. China, Mexico, and Vietnam top this list of countries (Gilmore 1).
Nevertheless, the government is the sole authority that can guarantee the protection of human rights and freedoms. It is responsible for putting in place the necessary laws and policies to protect and safeguard the rightful enjoyment of human rights among its citizens. In this case, the government, therefore, act as the custodians of human rights, and they are responsible for any acts that are committed against the enjoyment of a person’s freedom. Thus, the state is the guarantor and protector of human rights. However, at times the government itself may carry itself in an irresponsible manner by being the violators of human rights in occurrences such as genocides.
Northern Republicans and Southern Democrats attempted to cure their complete opposition on the regulation of slavery by using federal power to coerce an end to the feud, yet the movement increased tension between the divided nation. By invoking both legislative and judicial power, politicians used laws which included slave codes and freedom laws as well as court decisions like Dred Scott v Sandford (1875) to convince or force the population into acceptance of stances on slavery. Each party viewed their tactics and ideas to be righteous, and though they intended for positive results, national outrage answered the governmental movement.
However, with Jefferson’s dislike for the institution he knew that to oppose the issue could tear the nation completely apart. In 1820, during James Monroe’s Presidency the Missouri Compromise was approved. The Missouri Compromise essentially regulated the balance for the admittance of Slave and Free States into the Union. In Thomas Fleming’s A Disease in the Public Mind the author, states that with the Compromise’s passing that Jefferson declared that it signaled the end of the Union of the nation as they had once known it. With this idea in mind, Fleming presents how the Missouri Compromise seemed unsettling for Jefferson, who believed that regulating the state’s choice to have slavery or not would not end the institution but only stir up more loathing for the Southern States. Along with this Fleming, points out how many slave owners made the claim that the slaves they owned were considered property and were entitled to their property to be preserved by the government. It was here that the first changes in the nation’s society and economics take place in the United States. With the further spread of slavery into the west, the abolitionist and anti-slavery movements began to rise changing the minds of many who lived in the North and even some in the South to look at their society as a whole, which formed the question whether the institution of slavery was a moral and just one. This idea of slavery being moral and moral in American society heavily relied on the religious
Social problems relate to unacceptable or unwanted conditions that a majority of individuals believes should be rectified. It can be argued that slavery was once a social problem that stemmed from inequality based on widely held beliefs regarding race and ethnicity. As we discussed in class, slavery was primarily based on the belief held by the majority of White people that Black people were racially inferior. It can be argued that social changes in relation to beliefs on race and ethnicity have eliminated the social problem of slavery.
Ranging from a necessary evil to a positive good, the perception of slavery proved to be a polarizing issue. Many northern citizens were indifferent to the idea of slavery, while southern plantation owners relied on slavery to support their economies. After the Second Great Awakening, the abolition movement was introduced and opposition to slavery began to receive attention. Due to political ideals, acquisition of new American territories, and religious influences, opposition to slavery grew rapidly in the United States from 1776 to 1852.
As the century drew to a close new innovations were being created every day. Things such as the cotton gin were being created and as industry grew so did the reliance of railroads for transportation, thus sparking a catalyst that could aid the work force. This was especially important for those living in the United States as it was a relatively new, yet thriving country that was rapidly becoming an economic threat to countries that dominated the world for centuries. While the northern parts of the United States were quickly catching on to a blossoming new century, there was still an old custom being practiced in the south that was widely outdated, slavery. The “necessary evil” was soon becoming a thing of the past, and while the north seemed to be flourishing the south was still grounded in the outdated custom that was long overdue and kept those tied down to it in bondage. Slavery was no longer a needed institution and its insinuation not only hindered the south, but of the overall growth of the United States.
The history of slavery in the United States is a complex one full of many riveting characters and interesting events. Historians have spent extensive time researching slavery and its effects on the country from its institution until its end in 1865. One popular organization was the American Colonization Society. The society was founded in 1817 and had branches in all major areas of the United States from 1822 to 1913. The society found supporters in many different individuals. One of these characters is a Louisiana slave owner named John McDonogh. Contrary to the norms of the time, John McDonogh formulated a plan to free a select number of his slaves that would then be sent to colonize Liberia. I propose to look at the impact John McDonogh has on the Liberian colonization movement in Louisiana, the contributions he made to slavery as an institution in his local area, and the lasting legacy that he has established in the New Orleans area. .
In order to begin speaking of slavery in the United States, I must give you an introduction prior to the topic of slavery in history. Slavery has been concurrent since pre-historic times. It has been used in many empires like the Roman Empire, Ancient China, Mesopotamia and the Indus River-Valley. Many of these slaves, men & women, were products of indebt people who sold themselves for money or became prisoners of war who were forced into servitude. Earliest records of slavery date back to 1760 B.C. with the Code of Hammurabi which stated many laws regarding slaves being lost or stolen. Time elapsed as slavery evolved where many Europeans noticed African natives were really durable and had a lot of knowledge regarding raising crop. A
Slavery has played a very integral part in the development of the United States so far. It has taught people the importance of racial equality and moral discipline, which was lacked back in the time when slavery existed. Moreover, slaves were used mostly by farmers and business owners who wanted to maximize their profits and wanted cheap sources of labor.
Did you know that there are more slaves today than there were at any other point in human history? Not in Roman times, not even in 1860, when 12.5% of the US population was enslaved, were there more slaves than there are in 2016 (Goodheart). Chances are, you weren’t aware of this, as was I until a few weeks ago. What I had always been taught in school was that slavery happened a long time ago and that it’s over now and all the issued it caused are fixed. But that’s simply not true.
A couple hundred years ago, almost everybody was using slaves in many different ways. Slaves were not free and did not have the right of making a choice or being free. Now America has given us many privileges that most countries don’t have, in the past years of our generation. America’s gifts to my generation include equality and freedom of having a dream and making a choice.
A slave is a man, woman or child who is the lawful property of another person and is compelled to obey them. Slavery is the system of possessing slaves, which could be either one slave or many. Slavery in the United States officially began with the trans-Atlantic slave trade, it also began during this period in a lot of other countries. The slaves were treated inhumanelyfor several years;it was abolished in the United States on December 6,1865 and abolished in many nations. However, it still continues until today. The slavery which was started during the Atlantic Slave Trade still exist today but holds a different form, trafficking, forced labour, and child slavery.
“SLAVERY was abolished 150 years ago, right? While it is true that slavery is illegal almost everywhere on earth, the fact is there are more slaves today than there ever were…” Despite the grim reality described in this quote, I believe Robert Alan successfully undermines a common misconception held by Americans, both young and old. Although we are brought up thinking that Abraham Lincoln with his Emancipation Proclamation along with the Civil War Amendments brought an end to the enemy known as slavery, in today’s society, however, that is sadly not the case. The harsh reality is that this problem never truly
Both countries reluctantly agreed to the border agreements laid out by the international commissions, although neither were happy with the British border line that was being followed (BBC, 2000). The two countries were somewhat stable according to this agreement—most likely due to the fact that both were recovering from economic and political changes brought by the separation—until 1997, when Eritrea began to assert its own independence by printing its own international currency, building its military power, and seeking a place in the politics of the area (Lorton, 2000, p. 103-6).