The US colonial project kidnapped nearly 11 million people from Africa as part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Slavery was fundamental to nearly all industries in the US, and accounted for 32% of America's workforce by 1800. The profits generated through slave labour helped fuel the industrial revolution, establish Wall Street, and fund prestigious universities including Harvard, Yale, and Columbia.
When the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution abolished slavery in 1865, its drafters included an exception that allowed for the continued use of involuntary servitude “as a punishment for crime”. This exception clause has shaped the lives of millions of Americans ever since.
Today, more Black men are currently in prison than were enslaved in 1860. Black men make up around 33% of the incarcerated population, despite comprising 14% of the national population.
