ABSTRACT

The issue of human trafficking is a complex problem that involves numerous levels of exploitation defined by the various situations of the individual victims involved. The use of broad terminology like human trafficking and modern slavery often overshadows the most crucial elements that define who is considered a victim and how they are victimized. Due to the complexities in human trafficking, it is important to possess a historical perspective of the evolution of American slavery and how it relates to the human trafficking that takes place in the United States. Without understanding how human trafficking fits into the historical development of slavery it is likely that today’s abolitionists will stumble into some of the same pitfalls abolitionists of the 19th century faced.