Slavery is a condition defined as one human being owning another human. Ancient history shows that the Greeks, Romans and Mayans accepted slavery. Later, continental Europeans became involved in slavery, importing slaves from Africa to the New World. During this period, more than eleven million African slaves were taken from their countries of origin as part of the transatlantic slave trade. Ultimately, the American Civil War led to the freedom of slaves through the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln. Nearly a century passed before slavery was undeniably eradicated due to the mistreatment and displacement of newly freed slaves, although it ended legally on December 6, 1865. Sharecropping and the Jim Laws Crow maintained a hold on freemen and poor white sharecroppers. After the American Civil War, sharecropping replaced large plantations throughout the soft. Sharecropping was a response to the economic depression caused by the end of slavery. Many poor farmers, both white and black, made their living by working land owned by someone else. The first sharecroppers were former black slaves. The system continued to enslave freemen to some extent due to the control that landowners exercised. The laws benefited landowners, not farmers. Poor white farmers eventually entered the system. The owner of the land would provide the sharecroppers with land and tools to cultivate the fields. The poor sharecropper would be responsible for purchasing seeds, fertilizer, and everything else a farmer needed. With little profit margin, it has become the new slavery. To buy everything the sharecropper needed, the owner of the land provided middle of paper......the status quo begins to lead to change. Sharecropping and Jim Crow laws reflected the power and ownership that white people held over black people. The lack of respect between societies forced change. Black Americans in the South were attacking the heart of white supremacy. The majority of the struggle came from sharecroppers, factory workers, and laborers. They all played an important role in the fight against racial oppression. The struggle during the slavery era and the Jim Crow era were essential to building America as it is today. Through struggle and fighting, Americans came together against all odds. The freedoms of free men initially gave black people false hope, but with great determination they were able to fight for the rights they deserved. The fight not only helped black Americans, it also helped poor white Americans..