Documenting 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. Properly documenting history allows us to learn from past failures and avoid repeating history. The study of hidden history gives voice to those who have been wronged and allows them to seek justice and ensure their story is not forgotten. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay History becomes difficult to discover because some people find it difficult to talk about America's controversial past. America has an ugly and violent past, and some people believe that talking about the past justifies the past and allows people to try to repeat the past. I learned a lot about America's ugly past. I learned that slavery did not end in 1865. The 13th Amendment was passed after the Civil War and gave slaves freedom, but southern states did not want black Americans to be free, so they passed black codes, or laws that made easier to arrest blacks. people and criminalize their way of life and keep them in legal slavery. In an attempt to earn money, freed black Americans entered into a sharecropping contract in which they agreed to help with white landowners' crops for a certain period of time, but if they attempted to leave they were arrested. I also learned about slavery or debt bondage, a system in which Southern whites made freed African Americans work for a period of time until their debts were paid, but the debts were impossible to pay off and attempts escape was punishable by death. America's legacy of mass incarceration must be documented. During the Reconstruction era, the Black Codes were passed, and as a result, African Americans were prohibited 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 black codes are in the past, but there is reason to believe that they continue today under different names. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper 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 severely than the majority. One law imposed mandatory minimum sentences and removed a judge's ability to consider personal background when sentencing. Mandatory minimum drug sentences punish dealers and users of crack cocaine more harshly than dealers and users of powder cocaine, although both drugs pose the same danger, crack cocaine is used by people of color and by people living in poverty and powder cocaine is used by people who are more middle-aged class and suburban background. Drug dealers and users are sentenced to unfair prison terms and are exploited for their free labor by private prisons and companies. This needs to be reported so that people are aware that American laws and policies turn American citizens into criminals.