I am here to discuss the major factors that contributed to the abolition of slavery. The definition of slavery varies from time to time and can include: Saying no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Obtain an original essay from a person who is owned and wholly subject to another; a slave servant.a person entirely under the dominion of some influence or personal practice or system of owning slaves.But what really is slavery? Slavery is a system that includes forced labor in which people are held against their will. Slaves do not have the freedom to make decisions about their labor because they are bought and sold like property. Working conditions are generally very poor for slaves and, in many cases, they are physically abused if they do not follow their owners' directions. Slaves can be men, women, and even small children. Before the United States won the Revolutionary War and was officially recognized as an independent nation in 1783, Africans were forced to come to America to work as slaves. Let's take a common example of slavery in the United States. Slavery was a part of American society until the end of the Civil War. Slaves could be found throughout the country, but there were many more of them in the South. Southern plantation owners and farmers relied heavily on slaves for labor and believed they needed slaves to keep their economy strong. Crops, such as tobacco and cotton, were an important part of the South's economy. However, they were also difficult to grow due to the number of people needed to plant and harvest. The Northern economy was based much more on manufacturing and industry. Over time, slavery was eliminated in the North, which was made possible, in part, by the region's minimal reliance on slave labor. However this is not a justified response to the way slavery was erased. Slavery in America and other countries ended like this; Abolitionists were both white and African American who fought to end slavery. Even though they had the same goal, not everyone used the same methods. Some abolitionists, such as John Brown, believed that slavery could only be abolished by force. Brown said that slavery was a violent system and that violence was necessary to eliminate it. Frederick Douglass, a former slave, used his excellent speaking and writing skills to speak out against slavery. William Lloyd Garrison founded a major weekly anti-slavery newspaper and founded the American Anti-Slavery Society. Harriet Tubman, also a former slave, helped other slaves by using the Underground Railroad, a secret network that helped slaves escape to Northern states. Regardless of the approach to ending slavery, being an abolitionist could be very dangerous, and they were often attacked by pro-slavery activists. With the nation torn apart by Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. While he did not end slavery, he declared that unless the Southern states that seceded from the United States returned to the Union, slaves in those states states would be freed. It also said that African American soldiers could join the Union Army and fight in the war. For some abolitionists, this proclamation was not enough. It seemed more like a war strategy than a genuine effort to end slavery. However, President Lincoln could not end slavery alone.The only thing that could officially end slavery was an amendment to the Constitution. Congress, not President Lincoln, had to approve the amendment, and then at least three-quarters of the states had to accept it. Congress passed the 13th Amendment on January 31, 1865, by a vote of 119 to 56. The amendment called for an end to slavery in the United States, but still had to be submitted to the states for approval; 27 states had to agree to make the amendment official for it to go into effect. The next day, Illinois ratified or approved the amendment, but it would take nearly a year to gain the three-quarters majority needed to change the Constitution. This finally happened on December 6, 1865. Georgia became the 27th state to ratify the 13th Amendment, and slavery was officially abolished. Nearly a million African American slaves were freed when the amendment took effect twelve days later. However, to fully understand why slavery was abolished, we must understand why it was immoral. let me tell you why slavery was “not that bad,” but very, very bad. First, Africans were torn from their families, their villages, their communities, their tribes, their continent, their freedom. Africans were forced to walk hundreds of kilometers in chains. They were often beaten, poorly fed and mistreated in many ways. Women and girls were regularly raped. The entire continent was devastated and still suffers today. Mr. Barkley, this is very, very bad. Second, Africans were locked in “slave dungeons” for weeks and sometimes months until slave ships arrived. They were often malnourished, beaten terribly, raped, and packed so tightly they could barely move. Africans were crammed into the holds of ships with little room to even move. They performed bodily functions where they lay and then lived there. They were often beaten, raped and abused mentally, physically and emotionally. Many died of disease and broken spirits. Some were so terribly affected that they jumped overboard and drowned when brought to the deck of the ships. Millions of people died during the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas. Mr. Barkley, this is very, very bad. Third, Africans were destroyed like wild animals. They have been stripped of every element of their identity. Their names were taken. Their tongues were taken. Their religions were taken. Their stories were taken. They were forbidden to have a family. They had no right to own anything. They were considered property. Their personalities were permanently altered. Their freedom has been taken. They became chattel sold by “slave blocks.” This crushing of identity still affects us today. I call it the psychology of the oppressed. Mr. Barkley, this is very, very bad. Fourth, African Americans were worked by "relatives to no avail"; that is, from “can see” in the morning to “cannot see” at night. There was no pay for their long, hard work. Many were poorly fed. Most felt the crack of the whip. Everyone felt the lash of the tongue. Many were raped repeatedly. Their children and other loved ones were sold at will. Some mothers killed their little girls so they wouldn't have to endure the ravages of slavery. Mr. Barkley, this is very, very bad. Fifth, African Americans had no right to defend themselves, no matter what was done and how wrong it was. By law, they could not even testify against their attackers. As U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Toney said in the 1857 Dred Scott case, “A black manhe has no rights that a white man is bound to respect.” This became the law of the land, and its legacy haunts us to this day. Mr. Barkley, this is very, very bad. Sixth, African Americans were perceived and treated as subhuman. The only way slaveholders could reconcile this terrible treatment with their Christian beliefs was to see us as less than human. Therefore, they could with pride insert such beautiful words into the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States with impunity: to wit, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal; who are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. “To them, African Americans were not human, so these beautiful words did not apply. The United States Constitution also designates us as three-fifths of a person. This is why white terrorists, in and out of uniform, can kill us without punishment. The legacy of being less human remains with us today. Black lives are worth far less than white lives. Mr. Barkley, this is very, very bad. Seventh, it took great violence to implement and maintain the worst form of human slavery known to mankind. It required unbridled violence on the part of slaveholders, slave catchers, local, state, federal governments, and society as a whole. Maintaining the institution of slavery created a very violent society that still haunts us today. That's why the United States has so much more violence than any other country in the world. Mr. Barkley, this is very, very bad. Eighth, even after the formal end of slavery, we still had Jim Crow. These same ingrained attitudes spawned state-sanctioned terrorism for nearly another 100 years. The Ku Klux Klan and other terrorist groups were hanged, mutilated, mutilated, and murdered without any punishment. This was state-sanctioned terrorism, because the “state” did nothing to prevent it. This is why even during the Civil Rights Movement murders took many years before even a shred of justice was forged. Just look at the deaths of Medgar Evers, James Chaney, the four little girls killed in the bombing of a black church in Birmingham and many others. That's why today Trayvon Martin couldn't walk the streets of his neighborhood, Jordan Davis couldn't listen to loud music in his car, Eric Garner was suffocated to death, and Michael Brown was shot and killed. Mr. Barkley, this is very, very bad. Here are some of the universal humanitarian rights; Article 1, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards each other in a spirit of brotherhood. Article 3, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Everyone has the right to life, liberty and personal security. Article 4, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade will be prohibited in all their forms. Once again it could be argued that slavery was justified by saying: slavery is natural. People differ, and we must expect that those who are superior in a certain way – for example, in intelligence, morality, knowledge, technological prowess, or ability to fight – will become masters of those who are inferior in this sense. Abraham Lincoln expressed this idea in one of his famous 1858 debates with Senator Stephen Douglas: “There is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever prevent the two races from living..