The chains tear his flesh. Blood flows from where the iron eats away at his flesh. He cannot lose the thought of his dissatisfaction with the current situation. He is a slave and is not free. The wound on his back from the whippings is his constant companion. This situation is not unique. Countless blacks were subjected to this type of mistreatment by their white slave masters in the New World that became the United States of America. According to the film Roots, white Americans took away free blacks' right to create slaves for their plantations because the needs of white slave owners outweighed the freedom for people different from them. The 1976 film Roots, based on the novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, illustrates the problems with the early formation of colonies in the Americas. Social stratification is the basis of the film Roots, and appears through Kunta Kinte's experiences with his Gambian tribe in Africa, through the relationship between Africans, white slave traders, the white slave team and the white plantation owners, through slavery fueling the emergence of colonialism, through the formation of social classes within the American colonies. Social stratification makes its first appearance in the film Roots through Kunta Kinte's involvement with the Gambian tribe. During his birth, Omoro, Kunta's father, waits outside while his mother, Binta, gives birth to him (Roots). The father waiting outside while the mother gives birth exemplifies the social structure within the Kunta tribe. There is a clear separation between men and women. Men are the warriors and women are the vehicle for producing new children, and neither side interacts with... center of paper... gh Kunta Kinte's personal experiences with his Gambian tribe in Africa, through the relationship between Africans, white slave traders, white slave groups, and white plantation owners, through slavery fueling the emergence of colonialism, through the formation of social classes within the American colonies. Like that slave, the blood of many slaves fueled literature in early America. The works of Olaudah Equaiano, Harriet Jacobs, and Fredrick Douglas advanced the truth that people who come from former slaves, or from slaves themselves, can create great literary works to shape America. Without the works of blacks, the symphony of American literature sounds like a song missing an important note. Works CitedRoots. 1976. Producer Stan Margulies. Perf. LeVar Burton, Edward Asner and Louis Gossett, Jr.Warner Home Video, 2001. DVD.