Why Is Slavery Important Today

Slavery as many Americans remember it began in the United States hundreds of years ago. The fact is that slavery took place thousands of years prior. Throughout the years slavery has impacted society in a big way. “My understanding is that slavery is an extreme form of a universal human tendency for some members of society to exercise domination over others. It is an institution in which all humanity and personhood are denied the powerless by the powerful” (Bradley, 2008, p. 482). This power that drives slavery is still present today.
To many students history is taught so that events do not repeat themselves in the future. For many, slavery has had an impact on their lives. This may not be a direct impact, but slavery has helped to shape modern …show more content…
This all comes at a cost to those in society. The slaves themselves and their families suffered immensely. There were letters from slaves that were studied by students at Kentucky State University. The letters uncovered slaves’ point of view along with some of their living conditions. “Due to the obstacles preventing slaves from attaining literacy, with many of their letters, it is unknown whether the slaves themselves wrote them or if they had the help of learned relatives or whites” (Brogan, Gilles, & Woodward, 2014, p.17). This can discredit some of the research from the slavery point of view, but it may not discredit all of the letters. “The key themes that students found in the letters were: church and religion, health, individual enslaved status, and changes in the family structure (such as births and deaths)” (Brogan, Gilles, & Woodward, 2014, p. 18). This can directly relate to the impact that slavery has had on modern society. The thoughts and lives of those who experienced it, can help readers to understand the conditions that slaves lived in along with their daily struggles. Their accomplishments and suffering has impacted history in an epic