American history is filled with stories of people working for noble causes like freedom justice and equality But there was also a terrible part of America’s history called slavery This allowed people to own other people as if they were property It took about 250 years a war and three kinds of legal action to finally end slavery The freeing of enslaved people is called Emancipation It is celebrated on two different dates in our country The District of Columbia celebrates on April 16th Texas and 45 other states celebrate on June 19th or Juneteenth Young girls celebrate Juneteenth in Texas 3
Africans are brought to America to be sold as slaves How Did Slavery Begin in America Traders brought the first African slaves to the American colonies in 1619 As time passed more and more free black Africans were captured and shipped across the ocean in chains Those who survived were sold in slave markets If enslaved people later had children they were slaves too These children were often taken away from their parents and sold 4
White plantation owners in the South bought the largest numbers of slaves The huge cotton fields there required a lot of hard work The owners came to depend on slaves to get the work done Enslaved Africans are sold at auction 5
