Something Lame
Bilbo Baggins
Professor J.
Reparation Paper
Abraham Lincoln described slavery as "the one retrograde institution in America," and told a delegation of black leaders in 1862 that "your race is suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people." Slavery was a stain on American history and by far an unthinkable act that makes most people cringe. If you can imagine someone kicking in the door to your home, tying up yourself and your family, dragging them to a vehicle for transportation, and then sold to the highest bidder in some land you know nothing about. Even worse, your family was sold to another person whom, unbeknown to you, lives miles away. After being sold, you are forced into severe manual labor, being harshly punished for any miniscule mistake, with you existence as a slave ending when you either die, or are freed, the latter holding a very small probability. It is the horrible treatment, and the way the Africans were uprooted from their native land that is the base for why people feel reparations are needed. Others feel differently, viewing the enslavement of Africans as a horrible part of our past, however, those people feel that while the act and the way the Africans came to America was horrible, they benefited by eventually becoming American citizens, whether them or their ancestors, and living in the best Nation that ever existed. Regardless, the issue over reparations needs to be settled, whether through a compromise between those that are pro-reparations and those that are against it, or a passing of a bill that cannot be disputed and must be put into action. Slavery enters human history with civilization. Hunter-gatherers and primitive farmers had no use for slaves, when all they do is grow enough food to supply their small group. When the method of hunters and gathers ceased to work with the growing population and decreasing lack of supplies, the human race began to evolve into people that would settle in a specific site
Professor J.
Reparation Paper
Abraham Lincoln described slavery as "the one retrograde institution in America," and told a delegation of black leaders in 1862 that "your race is suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people." Slavery was a stain on American history and by far an unthinkable act that makes most people cringe. If you can imagine someone kicking in the door to your home, tying up yourself and your family, dragging them to a vehicle for transportation, and then sold to the highest bidder in some land you know nothing about. Even worse, your family was sold to another person whom, unbeknown to you, lives miles away. After being sold, you are forced into severe manual labor, being harshly punished for any miniscule mistake, with you existence as a slave ending when you either die, or are freed, the latter holding a very small probability. It is the horrible treatment, and the way the Africans were uprooted from their native land that is the base for why people feel reparations are needed. Others feel differently, viewing the enslavement of Africans as a horrible part of our past, however, those people feel that while the act and the way the Africans came to America was horrible, they benefited by eventually becoming American citizens, whether them or their ancestors, and living in the best Nation that ever existed. Regardless, the issue over reparations needs to be settled, whether through a compromise between those that are pro-reparations and those that are against it, or a passing of a bill that cannot be disputed and must be put into action. Slavery enters human history with civilization. Hunter-gatherers and primitive farmers had no use for slaves, when all they do is grow enough food to supply their small group. When the method of hunters and gathers ceased to work with the growing population and decreasing lack of supplies, the human race began to evolve into people that would settle in a specific site
Cited: 1. Huggins, Nathan. Black Odyssey. New York: Pantheon Books. 2. "Slave Life and Slave Codes." U.S. History. N.p., 2008. Web. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/27b.asp>. 3. "Introduction to Colonial African American Life." Colonial Williamsburg. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2011. Web. <http://www.history.org/almanack/people/african/aaintro.cfm>. 4. Horowitz, David. Uncivil Wars: The Controversy over Reparations for Slavery. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2002. 5. Robinson, Randall. The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks. New York: Penguin Group, 2000. 6. Eric Foner (December 30, 2007). "Forgotten Step Toward Freedom". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/opinion/30foner.html. 7. Paul Shepard (February 11, 2001). "U.S. slavery reparations: Hope that a race will be compensated gains momentum". Seattle Times. http://community.seatlletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20010211&slug=reparation11