Slavery in America -- Today

Modern American Slavery Has a Mostly Foreign Face

In 1860, there were over four million slaves in the United States, about ten percent of whom were in states that did not secede from the Union in the War Between the States. By the end of 1865, slavery as an institution was destroyed in America, a status bought by the blood of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

But slaveryitself was not destroyed. In California after the Civil War, thousands of young Asian women were enslaved to serve as prostitutes for the Gold-Rush settlers. Chinese men were virtually enslaved to build the railroads and develop the Western mining industry. In the South, newly-freed slaves worked side by side with poor whites as sharecroppers, becoming serfs in all but name to new landowners from both the North and the South. This tradition of slavery continued throughout American history.

Today, at any given time, tens of thousands of people are working as slaves in America: cleaning houses, working on farms, or, most commonly, prostituting themselves for the profit of their owners. They are bought and sold, just like they used to be in the American South, and few of those who engage in slave trafficking are ever brought to justice.

Where Do Slaves Come From?

Most slaves in America are not Americans. They are often illegal immigrants from Guatemala or other Central American countries, young women and a few men who are brought over the border by coyotes. Their coyotes, after charging them money for their services, may sell them to confederates in the US, or the newly-arrived illegal immigrants may accept work from the wrong person.

Often, Chinese or Vietnamese immigrants, illegal or not, are brought to this country with the promise of education or work; they find themselves forced to work for most of the day, or turned into sex workers. Not knowing English or understanding how America works, they are trapped indefinitely in their new roles.