Documentation of hidden history is important because it allows us to understand our past, which in turn allows us to understand our present. When we want to know how and why our world is the way it is. Good documentation of history allows us to learn from past failures and avoid repeating history. Studying hidden history gives a voice to those who have been wronged and allows them to seek justice and ensure their history is not forgotten. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay History becomes difficult to uncover because some people have a hard time talking about America's controversial past. America has an ugly and violent past and some believe that talking about the past justifies the past and will allow people to try to repeat the past. I learned a lot about America's horrible past. I learned that slavery did not end in 1865. The 13th Amendment was passed after the Civil War and gave slaves their freedom, but southern states did not want black Americans to be free, so they passed black codes or laws that made it easier to arrest black people. people and criminalize their way of life and keep them in legal slavery. In an attempt to make money, freed black Americans would enter into a sharecropping agreement in which they agreed to help with the white landowners' crops for a certain period of time, but if they tried to leave, they were arrested. I also heard of peonage or debt slavery, a system in which white Southerners made freed African Americans work for a period of time until their debts were repaid, but the debts were impossible to repay. repay and escape attempts were punishable by death. I think America's legacy of mass incarceration needs to be documented. During the Reconstruction Era, Black Codes were passed and as a result African Americans were barred from voting, denied civil rights, placed in indentured servitude and if they complained or protested, they would be lynched. America would like to believe that the Black Codes ended in the past, but there is reason to believe that the Black Codes continue today under different names. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Today, Our legal system allows African Americans and minorities to be locked up for long periods of time and forced to work for free. The federal government has passed many laws that punish minorities more harshly than the majority. One law created mandatory minimum sentences and removed a judge's ability to consider personal history when sentencing. Mandatory minimum drug sentences punish crack dealers and users more harshly than powder cocaine dealers and users, although both drugs pose the same danger, crack is used by people of color and people living in poverty and powder cocaine is used by middle-income people. class and suburban environment. Resellers and users receive unfair prison sentences and are exploited for their free labor by private prisons and corporations. This must be exposed so people know that American laws and policies are turning American citizens into criminals..