Black history in the United States began in 1619, when a Dutch trading ship brought twenty Africans to Jamestown, Virginia. These people arrived as slaves or as indentured servants. Soon thereafter being of African decent became synonymous with being a slave. The southern colonies plantation system was built on slavery. Slaves were present in all of the 15 southern states. There were 700,000 slaves in the United States by 1790, and 4 million before the civil war. Although some worked …showed first 75 words of 908 total…

…showed last 75 words of 908 total…Crow laws still formally segregated U.S. society into two racial castes until the 1960's. People of African descent continue to occupy a subordinate position in the United States. The median income of African American families in 1995 was $25,970, 61 percent of the $42,646 earned by white families (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1996). For more than 350 years, people of African ancestry in the United States have struggled for equality, yet a social hierarchy based on race persists.