From Slavery to Prosperity: An American Family's Journey

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On December 6th, 1865 the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified and slavery had officially ended. Even though slavery was now illegal and the slaves were free, most of them had nowhere to go, and this was the case for my family. Instead of moving away to explore their new “freedom”, they had no other choice but to remain working on the plantations in exchange for food and a place to live. For generations my ancestors worked in Fort Worth, Texas on the plantations. In 1917 my great grandmother, Clara Lewis was born. She worked on the plantation until the age of 5, when her family had finally saved enough money to buy their own piece of land in Erath, Texas. Clara Lewis married my great grandfather, William Bentley and had given birth to three children by the age of 23. They moved onto their own plot of land in a less fortunate part of town.
Like many people, when the Great Depression hit her husband, William lost his job. Desperate for a source of income, this growing family finally caught a break. In 1940, Henry J. Kaiser agreed to support the British government by building cargo ships. Kaiser decided that the shipbuilding site would be constructed in Portland, Oregon. Henry J. Kaiser would need to hire people to not only build the cargo ships, but to also construct the building sites. His need for …show more content…

These illegal migrates are often stereotyped as uneducated, and inferior to legal U.S. citizens. Just like African Americans, they are living under oppression. In order for a Mexican immigrant there are several steps they must take. Many have troubles gaining citizenship because of the financial costs, and the citizenship test they must take. I accessed the official U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website and took the practice test. I am a U.S. citizen, born and raised and I only scored a 50% on the

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