Declaration of Independence

       The Declaration of Independence was written to give freedom to everyone who lived in America. It did just that with only one exception, African-Americans. They were still being enslaved and had no rights. In the original writing of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson tried to give free the slaves but he had to change that section because the South did not agree with it. Due to the Great Compromise, with counted each slave as 3/5 of a man,  questions started to come up about what should be done with the slave trade. The South's economy was based on agriculture, so cheap labor was needed at all times. The North did not push on the slavery aspect because they were too focused on establishing a new government. 

http://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/the-constitution-and-slavery

Colonial Period

    The first sign of racism in America was towards the Native Americans. They were forced out their lands by the Englishmen. They enslaves the Native Americans and sold them for money. After they realized that they couldn't control the Native Americans, they needed people to work on their land for free. Englishmen brought slaves from Africa cheap. They brought them over to America and forced them to work on their land. Africans were too far from their homes to run away. At first, slaves were treated as indentured servants, but in the late 17th century the Virginia House of Burgesses passed a series of laws that recognized slaves as property. 


http://americanhistoryrules.com/divisionandreunion/the-origins-of-slavery-in-america/ 

Race

      I chose to talk about race as my theme for my blog. Race was really only an issue in the olden days, but now has resurfaced in a movement called Black Lives Matter. This movement has started after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of African-American teen, Travis Martin. Whose death was quickly followed by Michael Brown and Eric Garner, who both died by the actions of police men. Since then, numerous of African-Americans have died due to police actions or while in their custody. In the article I chose, the author talks about the roots of the movement, which was started by Alicia Garza, and how much all these deaths are affecting not only the black community, but every other community. The author does support the cause; they understand the anger and grief that the community also feels. They also understand that the African-American community needs justice; it's not far how white supremacy exist in such a "free" country.  
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/19/blacklivesmatter-birth-civil-rights-movement