The Slavery Of The United States - 1869 Words

Modern Day Slavery In early 17th century, European settlers used slaves as cheap servants. Slaves were the personal property of their owners, and slave masters had absolute authority over them as human property. Chattel slaves, as they were traditionally referred to in the past, were bought and sold as if they were possessions. Even though owning a person as property was lawfully protected in the United States, enslaved individuals were not protected from mistreatment and abuse they endured. Historically, slaves experienced abuse at the hands of their masters. Slaves were chained, whipped and were often beaten while withstanding days of hard labor. Although we are taught that slavery ended centuries ago and the 13th amendment†¦show more content†¦These individuals are forced into marriages, hard labor, prostitution or other compelled situations. The most widely accepted definition of human trafficking comes from the State of California Department of Justice as â€Å"the recruitment, t ransportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.† Victims of human trafficking are considered today as modern day slaves. The International Labor Organizations (ILO) estimates the number of enslaved victims in the world today is at around 21 million. It is estimated that over 4 million people fall prey to trafficking each year, which is considered to be a conservative estimate according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) because not all victims come forward about their situations due to fear of their lives. Traffickers control their victims through physical threats, similar to the abuse chattel slaves endured in American history. According to the Polaris Project, one of the most well-known anti-trafficking organizations, most victims of human trafficking are often mistreated, handcuffed, beaten, and raped if they do not comply with their traffickers demands. Furthermore, if traffickers know of the