All citations need to be put into a standard Bibliography as well as include footnotes
Here is my proposed introduction paragraph, with the last sentence being the thesis statement:
In every pocket and era of humanity, exists slavery. It exists on a spectrum of systems that encompasses differing races, ethnicities, genders, ages, and means. From the perspective of the United States, it can be difficult to extrapolate slavery beyond the scope of the domestic slave trade in the lower South. As a result, it can be difficult for many to understand the complexities of what slavery did to African Americans. Contemporarily, most humans acknowledge the existence of racism, and slavery can be seen as the most credible example of it. However, while slavery is universally condemned today, historical justifications for its existence often cited economic necessity, racial superiority ideologies, and cultural norms, highlighting the complex interplay of factors that rationalized its institution in societies worldwide. Many Americans cannot imagine a time when racism did not exist. As a result, many believe racism was the motivator for the Atlantic Slave Trade. However, it is evident that the slave trade included Africans due to the proximity to the colonial empires, Portugal and Spain, who were initially engaging in the slave trade. Within the United States, the institution of slavery served as a catalyst in the inception of racism.
