The Time of American Slavery
From the dark to the light
The Beginning of American Slavery
The first enslaved Africans arrive in Point Comfort, Virginia aboard the White Lion. English colonists trade food and supplies for them — the birth of chattel Slavery in what becomes the United States
Slavery as the Nation’s Backbone
From independence to the Civil War, Slavery fuels the U.S. economy. Cotton, sugar, and human lives form the core of American wealth and politics.
The 13th Amendment and the Birth of “Legal Slavery 2.0”
Slavery is abolished, except as punishment for a crime. That one clause opens the door for convict leasing, where Black men are arrested for “vagrancy” and sold to private companies — a brutal rebranding of Slavery.
Jim Crow Era
Reconstruction ends. Segregation, lynchings, and voter suppression become the law of the land. Entire systems are built to keep Black people in economic and political chains.
Civil Rights to the “War on Drugs”
After landmark civil rights wins, the government pivots to criminalization. Nixon’s and later Reagan’s “War on Drugs” floods Black neighborhoods with police, not opportunity — arrest rates skyrocket.
Mass Incarceration and the Prison-Industrial Complex
The U.S. becomes the world’s largest jailer. Private prisons profit. Generations are lost to mandatory minimums, three-strikes laws, and systemic bias. It’s Slavery’s ghost in a three-piece suit.
65%
65% of incarcerated people (about 800,000 workers) are forced to work, often for little or no pay (AFSC/ACLU, 2022).
13th Amendment Slavery loophole:
The amendment prohibits Slavery “except as punishment for crime” — creating the foundation for modern prison labor exploitation.
38%
Black Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population but 38% of the prison population (NAACP).
Black individuals are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession despite equal usage rates with whites (ACLU, 2020).
76%
Over 76% of incarcerated workers report being forced to work under threat of punishment, including solitary confinement, loss of family visits, or denial of parole opportunities (University of Chicago Law School Global Human Rights Clinic, 2022).
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