Slavery And The Slave Trade

In a unique approach author David Galenson examines the transition of servants to slaves during the 17th and 18th century of British America. He successfully covers the importance of slavery and the reason for its high demand. Galenson takes into consideration the demographic conditions and its differences throughout the West Indies,

There can be an abundant amount of cheap factories and labor, but what good are those two if there was nothing to manufacture? Tobacco was one of the main, and most known, cash crops. In the early years of tobacco cultivation, it was highly profitable as the land was rich in nutrients and able to support large harvests. However, as time went on, the tobacco severely depleted the lands, which forced farmers to find other profitable crops or rely on heavy fertilizing. Farmers turned to grains and maize as an ersatz for tobacco. However, in less locations with less fertile lands, farmers had to turn to other means to make money, often not related to

Although all this documents stress voices from the Slave Trade, each document sheds a unique light on the much-debated question about who should be held responsible for the tragedy of the Atlantic slave trade. For example, Document 15.1 sheds light on the role of both European and African merchants in the trafficking of slaves as well as the human suffering of the slave trade. However Document 15.2 reveals the cooperation between local African rulers and European and African traders in the slave trade. Moreover, Documents 15.3 focus on how disruptive European traders could be to established African governments, even those that actively opposed the slave trade. And finally, Document 15.4 shows how some African leaders were attached to the slave trade and promoted it even when European were moving to end it. Nonetheless, all the documents do shed a clear and a full light on what should be held responsible for the

The Atlantic Slave trade began to pick up speed with the development of colonies by the Spanish and then the English, which were used to expand the mercantilist countries empires and power. African slaves began to be seen as a necessity once the Native American population plummeted and Spanish Creoles refused to do the hard work to supply their home country with the needed raw materials. Europeans were unwilling to provide the heavy menial labor required to successfully build a colony, making it “necessary to acquire negro slaves” (Document 1). Creoles and other European settlers forced slaves to “work too hard” and gave “them too little to eat” which weakened slaves and caused many to die off (Document 1).

Slavery in America started in 1619 when settlers brought over African Americans to Jamestown, Virginia. The slaves came to Jamestown to work on the tobacco plantations. The slaves were also sent to other colonies such as South Carolina to work on the cotton plantations. Slaves were people who worked for no pay. This caused the land owners to make more profit from their plantations because they didn’t have to pay their workers. Southern slave owners, specifically in South Carolina, relied on slavery as a major part of their economy.

The changes in African life during the slave trade era form an important element in the economic and technological development of Africa. Although the Atlantic slave trade had a negative effect on both the economy and technology, it is important to understand that slavery was not a new concept to Africa. In fact, internal slavery existed in Africa for many years. Slaves included war captives, the kidnapped, adulterers, and other criminals and outcasts. However, the number of persons held in slavery in Africa, was very small, since no economic or social system had developed for exploiting them (Manning 97). The new system-Atlantic slave trade-became quite different from the early African slavery. The

In this section I try to show how the African Slave System, after gaining a foothold went on to become the most important part of the economy of the new Nation:

The slavery since 19th century takes a lead in the whole nation economy through producing food consumption and diversification to access market of North and Europe. Comparing to the South, Northern cities of America are progressively industrialized and can export commodes conveniently. Owing to the demand, the requirement of labor productivity pushed Negros to the America and turned them into the systematic agriculture labors. In this system, a simple concept global production chain and international commercial among Africa, America and Caribbean area took place in the function. Departing from the North coast, Americans export tobacco and cotton to Europe, and later leaving for Africa to import African labors for the South America. During the voyage, the ship has been passing by the Caribbean area for sugar, and then returned back

Slavery in the American colonies heavily impacted the successful American economy. When Spanish conquistadors arrived and settled the vast new land, they did not intend to do any work themselves so the solution was to import slaves from Africa. And so, in the 1500s, “slave trading would prove

2) Why did the Spanish turn to African slaves rather than other sources of labor? What were enslaved people’s lives like in this period?

The Europe of the 17th and 18th centuries craved the sugar from the West Indies more and more as time went on. To keep up with these demands of the sugar economy sugar planters would bring seemingly endless supplies of enslaved Africans from across the Atlantic. With an increasingly high income it didn't matter that others were suffering under an oppressive system, or did it? In this paper I will prove that slavery grew increasingly race based from the 1660’s onward, slave laws were created and practiced more commonly, and standards for sexual race based relations had changed more dramatically. All of these things lead to the oppression of black slaves and lead to the establishment of a soley race based slavery system.

It is considered common knowledge that when slavery is mentioned that cotton was the primary cash crop however, it is uncommonly known how vital it was to the world’s economy and resources. Settlers in North America produced this cash crop on large scale by turning to African slaves. The reason slaves were used was because the slaves were much cheaper as a means of labor as well as other functions too. Many business men use the desirability of slaves and grew rich in the slave trade. Some big portions of the economy were directly influenced by slaves, which made them more than just a source of cheaper labor compared to indentured servants.

The African Slave Trade (pg 27): Portuguese traders likewise ousted Arab merchants as the prime purveyors of African slaves. Some Africans were held in bondage as security for debts; others were sold into servitude by their kin in exchange for food in times of

The narrative by Olaudah Equiano gives an interesting perspective of slavery both within and outside of Africa in the eighteenth century. From these writings we can gain insight into the religion and customs of an African culture. We can also see how developed the system of trade was within Africa, and worldwide by this time. Finally, we hear an insider's view on being enslaved, how slaves were treated in Africa, and what the treatment of African slaves was like at the hands of the Europeans.

Europeans figured that buying slaves in families would be beneficial because it would prevent slaves from running away, utilized the use of more labor, and made the seller look better. The desire to make money amplified the “need” and/or the continuation of