Argumentative Essay on Slavery
- Submitted by: noahjpark
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- Category: History: American
- Date Submitted: 11/29/2015 11:08 AM
- Pages: 5
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Noah Park
AP Teacher
AP Language and Composition
25 August 2015
Reparations for the Ancestors of American Slavery
Early America was supposed to be a new world; it was meant to give anyone a second chance or even a first chance at a new life. Colonists who arrived here were able to fight through their hardships and earn the right to call this place their home. However hard they tried to escape, black men, women, and children were forced to come to America as slaves for the sole purpose of doing work. During this time in a place that many called paradise, the black slaves who resided in America could see it as no better than Hell on earth. Although the black slaves of America had suffered countless hardships through their years of enslavement, the process of granting their ancestors reparations would be highly difficult and illogical.
It would be extremely difficult to pay or give to the ancestors of those who were enslaved. A large problem to this is figuring out which people are truly ancestors of the previously enslaved. It would take countless hours and days of going through family lines to find out if someone is an ancestor of a slave or not. The question that arises is whether the government will do this or if the person who believes they are an ancestor will do this. Nevertheless, either way will cause problems. If the government were to go through every single person’s heritage, they would never get anything else done. If the people who believed they were an ancestor went through their own heritage, they could fake some of the lines of their family history to make them seem as if they are truly an ancestor when they are not. Another problem that arises is the color of skin. For example, a black slave has a child with a white man or woman. This child goes on to marry a white man or woman and so on down the family line. Now it is present day and this true ancestor of a slave has a white skin color. This person wouldn’t even begin to think that they might...
AP Teacher
AP Language and Composition
25 August 2015
Reparations for the Ancestors of American Slavery
Early America was supposed to be a new world; it was meant to give anyone a second chance or even a first chance at a new life. Colonists who arrived here were able to fight through their hardships and earn the right to call this place their home. However hard they tried to escape, black men, women, and children were forced to come to America as slaves for the sole purpose of doing work. During this time in a place that many called paradise, the black slaves who resided in America could see it as no better than Hell on earth. Although the black slaves of America had suffered countless hardships through their years of enslavement, the process of granting their ancestors reparations would be highly difficult and illogical.
It would be extremely difficult to pay or give to the ancestors of those who were enslaved. A large problem to this is figuring out which people are truly ancestors of the previously enslaved. It would take countless hours and days of going through family lines to find out if someone is an ancestor of a slave or not. The question that arises is whether the government will do this or if the person who believes they are an ancestor will do this. Nevertheless, either way will cause problems. If the government were to go through every single person’s heritage, they would never get anything else done. If the people who believed they were an ancestor went through their own heritage, they could fake some of the lines of their family history to make them seem as if they are truly an ancestor when they are not. Another problem that arises is the color of skin. For example, a black slave has a child with a white man or woman. This child goes on to marry a white man or woman and so on down the family line. Now it is present day and this true ancestor of a slave has a white skin color. This person wouldn’t even begin to think that they might...