When Sogolon is brought to the king by two hunters, he marries her despite her ugliness. When Sogolon becomes pregnant, she is treated with a great deal of favorability because of the prophecy. Maghan's first wife, Sassouma Berete, became jealous of Sogolon's and fears that her child will displace her own eight-year-old son. Sassouma later affects Sogolon's and Sundiata's lives when, following the king's death, she maneuvers to have her son placed on the throne, forcing Sogolon and Sundiata to flee in exile ("Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali").

From reading this document, it is very clear that the society had similarities to today's culture as far as the roles of men and women are concerned. It is believable that in American culture, women appeared to be weaker while maintaining a mental strength, which is the strongest of strengths.

With that, slavery was another issue that American culture had very similar to the culture in the story.

During slavery times, there were many discussions about expanding slavery, which many mixed feelings. For most slave owners, it would have been beneficial to keep slavery in tact. For example, slave owners had incentives to preserve, extend, and safeguard the legal existence of slavery. This was due to the fact that they thought that slavery could be a viable form of economic organization in other sectors. Both societies treated slavery within the manner, which indicates that story was a reflection of American society. Furthermore, slavery ended in both society because they realize power can be found somewhere else within another area such as gaining family strength, which has become a reflection of American society.

Slavery ended for both culture due to the changing cultures and civil rights as it can be examined from the following evidence.

The proviso passed the House of Representatives because a majority of the representatives came from the North. Under the United States Constitution, each state received a number of representatives based on a state's population. The...

In the Senate, there were the same number of slave and free states. Each state was entitled to two senators. As a result, when the Northern and Southern senators voted along regional lines, a bill could not be approved. During this time period, Northern and Southern states intentionally tried to maintain the balance between slave and free states. As long as neither side had an advantage in the Senate, a bill could not be sent to the president to sign into law that could either end slavery or make it legal everywhere" ("James Polk").
Furthermore, the Wilmot Proviso helped the north to divide the slavery issue, which basically ended it completely due to the fact that they believed it was uncivil to own a slave.

The Wilmot Proviso helped to further divide the North and the South over slavery. Many white Southerners believed that slavery should be legal everywhere in the United States, while a growing number of white Northerners, including many Ohioans, opposed slavery's expansion. The Wilmot Proviso espoused the philosophies, whether it was for economic or moral reasons, of the Free Soil Party and eventually the Republican Party -- slavery could not expand" ("James Polk")

From there, public schools taught that white people had enslaved blacks and that their progeny were entitled to relief. Although it did not square with our ancestors who fought to end slavery 150 years ago, two million of Americans interrupt their lives to fight the bloodiest war in American history to free slaves owned by Southern Democrat. Along with that, the Civil War was not between whites and blacks, but between Republicans who wanted to end slavery, and Democrats who did not ("An Offer of Proof").

Conclusion

From the evidence in this paper, it is appear the society within the epic is a reflection of American society in the areas of slavery and gender roles. In a sense, history has a habit of repeats itself. This gives all cultures similarities from one another to learn from mistakes