Slavery and the roots of racism

In the first article in a series on slavery and the Civil War, Lance Selfa looks at the origins of forced labor in the Americas and the ideology of racism it gave rise to.

April 9, 2015

A slave with scars from whipping

APRIL 9 marks the 150th anniversary of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender to the Union Army's Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, ending the American Civil War.

Earlier that day, Lee had tried to fight his way out of a cordon of Union forces, in which the Northern forces--including several regiments of the all-Black U.S. Colored Troops--outnumbered his army six to one. Seeing the futility of carrying on the war, Lee decided to sue for peace.

Slavery and the Roots of Racism by Thavam Ratna