In America, slavery started in 1619, when the first African slaves were brought to the colony of Jamestown, Virginia for the productions of profitable items such as tobacco. In the modern age, everyone does not have equal access to freedom. There are still more than 21 million individuals who are enslaved worldwide. This created an allusion that everyone, including the world, had equal access to civil liberty after slavery “ended” in 1865. Of course, anyone could misinterpret the fact that slavery ended—since the majority of the world is not engaging in this activity—but by digging deeper, the reality can be found. Slavery surely did not “end” and not everyone has equal access to civil liberty. Certainly, slavery is not legal anywhere, but it occurs everywhere. The United States of America has 60,000 individuals who are enslaved today, and India holds the record with 14 million victims. These countries are not the only ones that have slaves, considering that they are the ones that are proven by liberators. Are these 14 million, or 60,000 victims having equal admission to independence as others? Does one need a hint?

The answer is no.

The definition of civil liberty is having an individual’s rights protected by the law; a shorter description would be: owning independence. 78% of the victims are put into labor and 22% are forced to be active in sexual intercourse. The harsh treatment of the slaves is not any close to the definition of civil liberty. To attempt to conceal the word “slavery”, enslavement is referred to perplexing titles such as “Bonded labor”, “Human Trafficking", “Debt Bondage”, and many more. Human Trafficking may sound more soothing than slavery, but honestly, does that change anything?

Our every day activities seem like a dream come true for the enslaved. These victims who are forced into whatever their work might be, do not have the independence to have an afternoon stroll, enjoy a wonderful dinner, or even to brush their teeth. On the other side of the world, people just like them get to have their afternoon stroll, their enjoyable dinner, and their time for clean teeth. This is not what freedom should look like.

Slavery is still a big issue in the modern age. After taking consideration that enslavement is taking place even to this day in multiple places (US and India, for example), that slavery does not fit into the category of liberty and that the victims cannot be a part of daily activities as all the other people in the world, the fact that not everyone has independence in their lives should clear as a glass marble.