Slavery: Differences Between The Past And Present

Improved Essays
“Unfortunately, slavery is not only something of the past. When I first learned that there are now 21 million people enslaved today, I was astonished and terrified. Have we learned nothing from the past?” - Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave). We take responsibility for what we do, not for what others have caused. In the quote above, McQueen states how we have reflected something from the past into the present. The differences in the past and the present has been drastically changed throughout the history due to the laws and historical events that slowly changed the American society. It is irrational for the current and future generations to atone for the mistakes of the broad and biased thinking of the ancestors in America. The current establishments …show more content…
They were labeled to have responsibilities of a housewife, weak and very dependent towards their husbands. In addition, the law strictly forbids women to work outside the house and as a result the feminists felt dissatisfied. When World War 1 happened, many of the men had to leave to help fight for their country and this led to many of the women to take over their jobs. “This report endorsed the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’. But their expectation was that due to their ‘lesser strength and special health problems’, women’s ‘output’ would not be equal to that of men. Despite evidence that women had taken on what were considered men’s jobs and performed them effectively during the war, this did not shift popular (and government) perception that women would be less productive than men.” Although the women performed well in their jobs, they were still looked down upon because society believed that women were incapable of a man’s ability to work harder, and do better. Even though women were working the same jobs as the men, they were also getting paid less. This comes to show that in the past, society’s morals on women are different than the morals that we have on women now. There women who own their own companies, who are getting paid fairly as men are, and who are not …show more content…
Mellen observes, “Washington considered Africans and African Americans to be inferior human beings, ignorant, careless, deceitful, and without conscience” (Mellen). Mellen stated that George Washington, the first president of the United States of America, views African Americans nowhere near to a human being and encouraged slavery. Racism rose from the founding of United States until now although slavery was the main controversy at Washington’s time due to the cruelty that lingers on the slavery foundation in America. Mellen observes, “the evils of slavery and of black people treated as property and less than human” (Mellen). According to Mellen, African American were treated harsh and inhumanely without mercy suffering from trauma and physical and mental bruises. As a result of the treatment they received, it became nuisance to others that some established a rebellion group to abolish slavery in

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