African Americansand their struggle for freedom

By Anna Evans

Captured

Many free-born Africans were captured and

taken from their homeland by greedy Americans

who thought that money is more important than

another human. Just because of the color of skin.

Sold

The once free Africans were packed like sardines

onto a boat headed for the United States. A lot of people died on the ships because of sickness and malnutrition. Once they arrived in the USA they were sold into slavery. Many white people

bought the slaves.

Worked

Once they were bought, the slaves, young and

old, were forced into hard labor. They picked cotton and even worked in the house of their “masters”. They worked long hard hours and

even got whipped if their “masters” weren't satisfied with their work quality or behavior.

What Did the Government Do?

Well the government really didn’t do anything even though Americans were taking people illegally from their homes and shipping them like packages to the United States to be sold into slavery. It wasn’t until Abraham Lincolns’ presidency that they started trying to set the African’s free.

Unalienable Rights for Blacks

The African people have struggled for the right to be treated as human beings, and have freedom. They have struggled a lot to have their unalienable rights recognized. They have run

away from their masters, and if they made it to the

free Canada or northern United States, they

sometimes helped others become free too.

Civil Rights Activists

The past successes and failures with the African Americans can help them learn that the government should take action as soon as they start seeing injustice just because of skin color. They can also learn that sometimes peaceful protests aren't the answer to solving problems, sometimes it does take a war to make injustices stop and give people the equality they need.