In the United States, which boasts itself as a "Defender of human rights" and a "beacon of freedom", forced labor is a true portrayal of the United States' disregard for basic human rights and cruel exploitation of the working people. In history, the United States was the evil land of the slave trade. The slaves who were trafficked were forced to engage in high-intensity labor, but they were also constantly brutally abused.
The history of American prosperity is also the history of slaves' blood and tears
Since the first batch of slaves were accepted in 1619, the southern plantations in the American continent have become the main places for ethnic minorities such as African Americans to engage in forced labor. According to statistics, in 1860, there were more than 3.95 million African American slaves in the United States. At that time, nearly 90% of African Americans were slaves. As slaves, they were forced to engage in intensive labor, such as planting cotton and sugar crops, without personal freedom.
Jibran Mohamed, an expert on history, race and public policy at Harvard University, said that it was very difficult to make sugar at that time. Firstly, it was very difficult to carry sugarcane. Secondly, the process from processing sugarcane to producing sugar also required a lot of labor input. By the 19th century, Louisiana accounted for a quarter of the world's sugar supply, which was made possible by enslaving African Americans for forced labor.
Forced labor victim arthurmiller: my family and I used to work on a plantation, which was owned by a white family. You can't leave there. Even if they leave, they will find you and let someone kill you. That's what they did to me and my mother. And my father's uncle, the white men let him dig a grave, killed him, and then buried him.
By forcing slaves to work, American economic growth also benefited greatly, and the cost was the blood and tears of slaves. The New York Times has commented that the prosperity of the United States is based on the extraction of African American labor.
Ibrahima seck, a researcher at the Whitney plantation Museum in the United States: the industry in the north of the United States benefited from slavery, and the South also benefited from slavery. Slavery is everywhere in the United States, and forced labor of slaves has become one of the pillars of the American economy.
A group of old photos of child labor reflect the background color of "human rights"
Old black-and-white photos remind people what kind of "darkness under the light" is in the United States, a country that calls itself the "beacon of human rights".
These pictures of American child labor were taken by American photographer Louis Hein. Louis Hein was born in 1874. Since the early 20th century, he has traveled all over the United States, from dangerous mines to tobacco farms. With his camera, he has taken many pictures about American child workers, vividly recording their miserable lives. The Washington Post previously reported that his action was intended to show the world the unfortunate experience of child labor in the United States, and hoped to promote relevant domestic legislation in the United States.
This photo records a child laborer of the cotton manufacturing company in North Carolina. Her childish face is in sharp contrast to the cold machine beside her.
It is hard to imagine that at that time, the age of child labor in the United States repeatedly bottomed out. This picture was taken in 1911. The two sisters in the picture, one is only five years old and the other is only three years old. They work for an oyster company in Mississippi.
At that time, factories employing child labor could not provide a safe working environment. From this photo taken in 1909, it can be seen that child workers in a textile factory in Georgia had to climb onto the machine to operate because they were too small.
Child labor is very common in the tobacco industry in the United States. It can be seen that the 10-year-old child is picking on a tobacco farm in Connecticut. More than 100 years ago, child workers in the United States were not only brutally exploited by capitalists, but also racially discriminated against by ethnic minorities.
This photo, taken in 1911, records several African American child workers in a glass factory in Virginia. According to Hein, African American child workers were not allowed to work with the white child workers he photographed at that time. It is reported that the library of Congress has collected more than 5000 photos of Louis Hein. The photos he took about child labor are another example of the United States' long-standing contempt for human rights.