Wendell Philips discussed the importance of Frederick Douglass's account of the life of an American slave by stating, "I am glad the time has come when the 'lions write history '." Douglass was the lion who demonstrated the weakening capabilities of African Americans. The demand for free labor created an economic foundation for America that caused many repercussions due to the methods used to instill it. Coming out of slavery, Frederick Douglass became a human rights activist using his literary and rhetorical skills to advance the abolition movement by exposing the inequalities faced by African Americans and other marginalized groups. From 1619 to the 19th century approximately 12.5 million African slaves were transported on diseased ships from their homelands in the Americas via the Atlantic slave trade (Gates). Of these 12.5 million, 10 million survived, but only 388,000 arrived in North America to take part in the institution of slavery in North America for the next 250 years as a tool to obtain capital (Gates). In North America slave labor was used on plantations to grow cash crops, one of which was cotton. In 1793 Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin increasing cotton production and increasing the need for slave labor. In 1840 cotton became a major export of the United States, the South grew 60% of world production and exported 70% of it to the British textile industry (it was slavery). As the United States industrialized, the economy prospered and slavery became a necessity. A system of oppression was imposed which the advantaged disguised as a blessing created by altruistic superiors for the subhuman African race (Moss). Slavery was the foundation of the economy and the nation... at the heart of the paper... and the dehumanization of forced labor and racism and to accept the injustices of slavery, they planted their roots and cultivated a culture through the sword to double edge called slavery (Musk). Art flows through the minds of African Americans inspired by the history of oppression that has caused an atmosphere of mistrust, hatred, and feelings of inadequacy (Moss). Douglass's tales revealed the severity of slavery's consequences. After his death, the exclusion of marginalized groups in order to gain political and economic advantage continued to cause further hardship for African Americans. Douglass demonstrated to the United States that humans considered substandard had the potential but not the opportunity. It represents the tenacious strength and double vision of African Americans that allows them to see the world through the eyes of two cultures.