Investigate the History of Slavery and Discuss the ways in which this history Impacts Contemporary Society.
HUMN: 303N
Week 8 Final Essay

The history of slavery has majorly impacted contemporary society as well as the ways in which we live. Ever since slavery was abolished in the United States, equality has been spread amongst African Americans throughout the world. This was achieved by the African Americans themselves, with their strong effort in fighting for what they felt was right. Following their strong attempts, “A terrible price had to be paid, in a tragic, calamitous civil war, before the new democracy could be rid of that most undemocratic institution” (G. Loury, 2015). A huge part of this time period was the Civil Rights movement. This movement was led by strong leaders that helped secure equal opportunities and privileges for African Americans. Although slavery was not officially outlawed until the 13th century amendment was passed, at end of the war slaves were set free. In M. Stevens (2015), “Fasts about the Slave Trade and Slavery, The Gider Lehrman Institute of American History,” slave trade and slavery itself has been thoroughly described. Steven starts off by stating that the United States had the highest natural increase in slave population. He then goes into slave trade, and explains what a slave would go through on a normal work day. This ties into the fact of the actual cost of slaves, and how vastly it changed through the years. The following line from the text demonstrates this idea, “During the 18th century, slave prices generally rose. Though they fell somewhat before the start of the revolution, by the early 1790s… Prices rose to a high of about $1,250 during the cotton boom of the late 1830s, fell to below half that level in the 1840s, and rose to about $1,450 in the late 1850… At age ten, children's prices were about