​Keith Burkholder has been published in Creative Juices, Sol Magazine,
Trellis Magazine, Foliate Oak Literary Journal, New Delta Review, Poetry Quarterly, and Scarlet Leaf Review.
He has a bachelor's degree in statistics with a minor in mathematics from SUNY at Buffalo (UB).

​               Slavery was a main part of United States history.  Slavery, by definition, is the social institution defined by law and custom as the most absolute and involuntary form of human servitude.  (Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia, page 16)
                The pronounced characteristics of slaves are as follows:  Their labor or services are obtained through force; their physical beings are regarded as the property of another person, their master; they are entirely subject to their master’s or owner’s will.  (Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia, page 16)  Since earliest times slaves have been legally defined as things; therefore, they could, among other possibilities, be bought, sold, traded, given as a gift, or pledged for a debt by their master, usually without any resource to personal or legal objection or restraint.
                The practice of slavery is prehistoric, although its institutionalization probably first occurred in early prehistoric times.  (Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia, page 17)  Slaves were needed for various specialized functions in these societies and were obtained either through raids or conquests of other peoples or within society itself, when some people sold themselves or their family members to pay debts or were enslaved as punishment for their crimes.  (Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia, page 17)
                Slavery happened in the United States in the early nineteenth century.  In 1800 the population of the United States included nearly 900,000 slaves, or which only just over 36,000 were in the northern states.  (Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia, page 18)
                Vermont, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey provided for the emancipation of their slaves before 1804, most of them by gradual measures.  The nearly 4,000,000 slaves at the census of 1860 were in the southern states.  (Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia, page 18)
                Eminent statesmen from the earliest period of the national existence, for example, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton, regarded slavery as evil and inconsistent with the principles of the Declaration of Independence.  (Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia, page 18)
                The Society of Friends uniformly opposed slavery and agitated against it.  The Presbyterian Church made several formal declarations against it between 1787 and 1836.  (Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia, page 18)
                Individuals and groups of persons of almost all sects defended slavery.  This concept of belief occurred with the southeastern United States.  On the whole in the South, antislavery views grew steadily; but many who personally held strong antislavery opinions hesitated to join actively in abolitionist agitation, unwilling to dispute what many citizens held to be their rights.
                As you can see during the 1800’s slavery had many beliefs and points of view.  The South predominantly used slavery as a form of control and for financial purposes.  Today, in the twenty-first century it is very different.  Segregation does exist, but freedom is applied to all citizens.  One should keep an open mind about today’s views.  Viewpoints do vary and the world continues to evolve into a more conscious and safe nation. 
 
 

​Keith Burkholder has been published in Creative Juices, Sol Magazine,
Trellis Magazine, Foliate Oak Literary Journal, New Delta Review, Poetry Quarterly, and Scarlet Leaf Review.
He has a bachelor's degree in statistics with a minor in mathematics from SUNY at Buffalo (UB).

​     The bravest thing that I have done recently is submitting my writing for publication.  The publication world is fiercely competitive.
                I have been rejected by nearly all of the publications I have sent my work to.  The constant rejection is bizarre, but it is part of the writing process.
                No one has ever mentored me in writing.  I have embarked on this experience all on my own.  My only writing help has been through a course I took a course with the Institute of Children’s Literature.  This at home course allowed me to write stories in order to be sent out to editors.
                Writing can be exhausting mentally.  This is the reason why I write a little bit every day.  Every writer has his or her own schedule they follow in order to complete a task at hand.
                I work on poetry, short stories, and novels.  I am brainstorming six novels at the present time and it has been a great process in general while writing them.
                I have been published in Creative Juices, Sol-Magazine, Trellis Magazine, Foliate Oak Literary Journal, New Delta Review, Scarlet Leaf Review, Birmingham Arts Journal and Poetry Quarterly.  It has taken a lot of work just to get published in general.
                I would not suggest a person to be a writer unless they can deal with constant rejection.  Not everyone on the planet can take that much rejection and continue to write.
                I will continue to persevere and write for as long as I can.  I enjoy writing a lot and do not mind the rejection letters.
                Writing should be something one enjoys doing.  One really needs to have a passion in order to write well and deal with rejection.
                This is what I believe has been my bravest endeavor so far.  I will keep writing in different genres and enjoy this continually.  This is all that I can say for now and I will continue to follow the creativity as I continue into the near and distant future.