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Ethnic Groups

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Ethnic Groups and Discrimination
Thomas J. Miller III
ETH125
August 23, 2010
Maria Kithcart

Ethnic Groups and Discrimination
Most African Americans are descendants of Africans that were enslaved by Europeans and American slave traders. Slave markets used in Africa to sell prisoners of war by African states. The Europeans used these slave markets to exploit and expand the shipment of slaves to the New World or America. Some ancestors immigrated to the United States from the Caribbean.
The first group of African slaves was brought to the United States in 1619 (Slavery, 2003). These slaves were labeled indentured servants, which are workers under contract to an employer in exchange for their lodging, food, and clothes. Most of the colonists used the Blacks on plantations because other groups did not want to work on them and the Blacks were easier to control. All colonies eventually legalized slavery passing laws that would keep the slaves and their children for life.
During the Revolutionary War, slaves and free slaves were allowed to fight against the British. After the Americans, won their independence from British tyranny, the Declaration of Independence was signed July 4, 1776 (Slavery, 2003) declaring, “All men are created equal.” Many people in the northern states influenced by the Revolutionary War and began abolishing slavery in the North. The southern states wanted to keep slavery to fuel the South economy through the production from the cotton fields.
By 1830, there were 319,000 free Blacks in the United States. Blacks faced racial discrimination preventing them from entering White business or establishments. Blacks began developing their own communities because of discrimination. It is during this period that Black churches were establish and became the focal point of the growth in the Black community.
In 1863, President Abraham

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