Slavery Essay : Africa And The Transatlantic Slave Trade

The Atlantic slave trade which was inevitably began by the Portuguese, but later in time taken over by the English, was the sale and exploitation of African slaves by Europeans that occurred in and throughout the Atlantic Ocean from the 15th century to the 19th century. Most slaves were transported from West Africa and Central Africa to the New World. Although slavery and slave trading already existed it became well known and practiced in all cultures. During this time while Europeans obtained most slaves through coastal trade with African states, some slaves

The African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade by Anna C. Bailey takes a rather interesting approach into the history of the Atlantic slave trade. Bailey took a personal journey, and was determined to break the silence. Of course with that being said it would prove to be a difficult quest since so many of these people are shamed about slavery, and the discussion of slavery is a taboo topic in its own ways. It was time to break the silence. Through out the book she explores diverse groups, of distinct people who all share the prevalent history of slavery. Her central theme in unveiling the past is through oral stories. Bailey makes it known in the first chapter that most texts written about the slave trade primarily focus on the Europeans perspective, which is what sets her book apart. Bailey herself residing in Jamaica takes an intimate standpoint to slavery, herself being of African slave descent, and knowing very limited details about her extensive family history. “What is clear from my family history is that more is known about the relatively recent past than is known about the period when my family members were undoubtedly slaves) . Through the obstacles and difficulties Bailey was able to succeed, and gave those affected a voice. Her approach will be examined, and the strengths and weaknesses in her approach will be brought to light.

The Slave Trade in Colonial America The first blacks in the American Colonies were brought in, like many lower-class whites, as indentured servants. Most indentured servants had a contract to work without wages for a master for four to seven years, after which they became free. Blacks brought in as slaves, however, had no right to eventual freedom. The first black indentured servants arrived in Jamestown in the colony of Virginia in 1619.

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

African slavery provided cheap labor for the proprietors, however most of the slaves suffered terrible conditions from the moment they were captured until their life ended. They lived and worked in horrible conditions. Many families’ lives were destroyed when they came to the Americas, and they had an enormous lack of rights and freedoms, such as a simple education.

The Europeans created the Atlantic Slave Trade in the Atlantic World and made a huge change in the world's history. The Atlantic Slave Trade started in the 1400s and almost all slaves would go to the Americas instead of Europe or Asia, although some slaves were still deported there from Africa. There was slavery in Africa before the Atlantic Slave trade. It didn't have a major effect on the slavery in africa. As the demand for slaves grew with the European expansion in the new world, rising prices made the slave trade very profitable.

Johannes Postma was the author of the book called “The Atlantic Slave Trade” and was born in Zwagerbosch, Netherlands in 1935. He received his PhD from Michigan State. He is now a professor at Minnesota State University and has written “The Dutch in the Atlantic Slave Trade”. As well as co- editing of “Riches from Atlantic Commerce: Dutch Transatlantic trade and Shipping.”

In the 1800’s there was an increase soar in the use of the domestic slave trade because of the need for slaves in the tobacco planting lands. Many landowners and planters looked towards the Chesapeake area to seek for slaves. Many slave owners started looking towards that region because the International Slave Trade had been blockaded off. The domestic slave trade began something different; where African Americans were moved to a new location either through being sold or being transferred. Because of the desperate need of slaves in order to earn a profit, within that century, hundreds of thousands of slaves were transported, allowing many American traders to earn a profit.

While African slave trading was not uncommon in Africa, when Americas was established the Europeans knew they needed cheap labor to work there plantations and mines. Europeans was always interested in trades in the African nations, so in the fifteenth and sixteenth century the Europeans traders started to get involved in the slave trade. Portugal was the first European country to start the transatlantic slave trade. People were kidnapped and enslaved an taken from West Africa and taken to Europe and America to be trade or sold for raw materials and goods.Slaves were packed on a ship on a long journey to America,an there journey was not an easy one. While upon the ship the slaves lived in dreadful conditions some slaves became sick and

One could argue that the only important factor of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is the creation of the political system in America; however, the geographic aspects, economic developments, and social status of people are the most important factors created from the introduction of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. These three factors are significant elements of the slave trade, while the political system simply derived from these factors. Without the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the United States of America would not be shaped the way it is today. Politics are the foundation of a country; a nation is born when the political system is set.

Slaves were significantly important to both Southern America and Northern America; both regions profited greatly from the slave trade. While Northern America were focusing on manufacturing, Southern America were considering to increase slavery so that they could use them in their agricultural places. Most of the slaves were from Africa, who were forcibly brought to America. The journey from Africa to America was not that easy though. Many of them died on the way to America because of the brutal condition of the journey. They risked their life to come to America with the hope of getting a better life in America. However, will they be accepted well and treated equally by new people in America? Will the new land give them new better life? Will the new land be actually better than their homeland? The treatment of slaves in America depended on slave owners, conditions, times, and places, though, generally majority of slaves had to face with brutality, degradation, and inhumanity. Slavery was one of the most significant issues in American history. Technically, slaves provided America economy, especially during the Antebellum period. Besides, they caused tensions between America two regions; the Southern states and the Northern states, over slavery issues, which was one of the reason that caused the Civil War. The influences of slavery issues didn’t end after the Civil war, it continued to the civil rights movements period and some of the equality issues are still going on till

Widely admired for its vivid descriptions of the slave trade, Olaudah Equiano 's autobiography reveals many aspects of the eighteenth-century Western world through the experiences of one individual. Throughout the narrative, Equiano -- a man defined by his abilities and usefulness, not by his skin color -- demonstrates the foundations for America’s role in the world and how his experience became a global story. From the west coast of Africa to the east coast of America, Equiano encounters a different culture in which he was able to develop his own sense of identity. In this Narrative, Equiano goes through a cultural change by learning the English language, meeting new people from different places, and experiencing different cultures and beliefs.

President Lincoln gave the black people hope and this is what they needed. Initially his decisions and actions are to preserve the Union; however, they were the black people’s only hope for freedom. President Lincoln needed the black people as much as they needed him. Southerners prideful thinking led them to believe they are superior to blacks. The South could not function without the labor of the slaves and depended on them heavily for working the fields and running households. The treatment of black slaves is unjust and cruel. Families separated from loved ones, women, and men beaten regularly. Slaves received small rations of food, denied education, and could not travel without a note. There rights completely stripped that left them with little dignity. The day that President Lincoln declared that freeing the slaves was essential in winning the war was a day of celebration! Many slaves responded by fleeing and rushing to enemy lines while for other’s it took months before finding out. Many slave owners withheld this information. The Emancipation Proclamation would ignite a series of events that would change the course of history. This is the beginning of change for our country. Blacks come together and are willing to sacrifice their lives for this cause. They realize that they need to take swift action. If the Confederacy wins the war, it will be the end of their existence.

Despite the limitations imposed by slavery, Africans and their descendants made substantial contributions to American culture in agriculture, cuisine, food culture and language. As for Cultural integration, such actions occurred during the transatlantic slave trade between West Africans and Central Africans and the European Americans was a forced interaction that cannot be reversed. The transatlantic slave trade in 1889, established a permanent link between Africa and North America as Africans sold into slavery transplanted their cultures to the New World.

In the last 50 years much has been done to combat the entirely false and negative views about the history of Africa and Africans, which were developed in Europe in order to justify the Transatlantic Slave Trade and European colonial rule in Africa that followed it. In the eighteenth century such racist views were summed up by the words of the Scottish philosopher David Hume, who said, ‘I am apt to suspect the Negroes to be naturally inferior to the Whites. There scarcely ever was a civilised nation of that complexion, nor even any individual, eminent either in action or in speculation. No ingenious manufacture among them, no arts, no sciences”. In the nineteenth