Atlantic Slave Trade Essay

Throughout the book, The Origins of Slavery, the author, Betty Woods, depicts how religion and race along with social, economic, and political factors were the key factors in determining the exact timing that the colonist’s labor bases of indentured Europeans would change to involuntary West African servitude. These religion and racial differences along with the economic demand for more labor played the key roles in the formation of slavery in the English colonies. When the Europeans first arrived to the Americas in the late sixteenth century, at the colony of Roanoke, the thought of chattel slavery had neither a clear law nor economic practice with the English. However by the end of that following century, the demand for slaves in the

When the first nineteen slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619, an institution that would last more than two hundred years was created. These first slaves were treated more like how the indentured servants that came to the New World from England were. However, as time passed and the colonies grew larger, so did the institution of slavery. Even after the importing slaves internationally was banned in 1807 by Congress, the internal slave trade expanded exponentially. The growth and durability of slavery persisted until the end of the Civil War, a time period greater than the entire existence of the United States. The institution of slavery was not only able to endure through two hundred fifty of turbulent change in America, but it was able to advance. This is due to the mindsets of slavery as a “necessary evil” and a “positive good” coupled with the dependence on them for such a large portion of the economy. These factors can be observed in the narratives written by Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs.

In a time period when women were considered inferior, as were blacks, it was unimaginable the horrors a black woman in the south had to endure during this period. African women were slaves and subject to the many horrors that come along with being in bondage, but because they were also women, they were subject to the cruelties of men who look down on women as inferior simply because of their sex. The sexual exploitation of these females often lead to the women fathering children of their white masters. Black women were also prohibited from defending themselves against any type of abuse, including sexual, at the hands of white men. If a slave attempted to defend herself she was often subjected to further beatings from the master. The black female was forced into sexual relationships for the slave master’s pleasure and profit. By doing this it was the slave owner ways of helping his slave population grow.

The earliest form of slavery in North America can be traced back to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. There, they were called the “Twenty and Odd” and considered servants rather than slaves. Though little is known about this infamous event, this ‘trade’ continued of capturing Africans from Africa and bringing them to the colonies of Britain. The usage of slaves increased and were often used as field laborers on plantations, house workers, blacksmiths

Between the years 1492 through 1750 a new world was discovered that was before unknown to the eastern hemisphere. New contacts were formed in the Atlantic world due to the discovery and colonization of the Americas and later African slave trade, which were both very major events of this time. These interactions mainly affected Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas, whose economies were broadened and social structures further developed and altered as a result.

The slave trade in the North American colonies began to grow in the 1600s. The African slave trade sourced their slaves from many different West African villages and countries. The business of slavery was a growing and profitable field, not only for the slavers, but also for the slaveholders. With the decrease of indentured servants, settlers in the English colonies looked for a new source of labor to satisfy their growing labor demands. The next source was Africa. “By the 1690s slaves outnumbered indentured servants four to one” (45). Europeans largely disregarded the ethical dilemma posed by slavery due to the European view of Africans and their culture as uncivilized, foreign, and heathen (44). The largest forced migration in history (44)

Third, Bacon’s Rebellion, involving rebellious former seeking land, led white planters force a looking more flexible force .Moreover it was more profitable to purchase Negro man. Their price was a little expensive, but they worked for whole life. According to labor owned by a Virginia planter, 1648 the cost white slave for instance, Thomas Groves was 1300(in lbs tobacco) for 4 years of service, however a cost of Negro man for instance, Mingo was 2000(in lbs tobacco) for whole life. This is another reason of increasing population and demand for black skin slaves. The rapid increase in the slave population led to strict control, cruelty and justification to brutality. Englishman called slave the” strength and the sinews of this western world . The slave trade horrors were inconceivable. Oladah Equiano, a slave from Nigeria described some horrors of slavery the “Middle passage”. Equiano and his youngest sister were seized by raiders. They passed from one trader to another. Majority of their slave group died, because of exhaustion or hunger. They were gathered in the merchant’s yard, like so many sheep in fold, without taking into account the sex or age. After signal given, the buyers rushed into the yard and choose for the best one. Furthermore, without scruple, relations and friends separated. In the vessel where Equiano was, there were two brothers which were sold in different slots. This is obvious example of new refinement in cruelty, which adds horrors to

There are different experiences of the slave trade that are reflected in these documents such as those of an enslaved person (Olaudah Equiano), a European slave trader (Thomas Phillips – an English merchant), an African monarch (King Jao) whose kingdom and personal authority suffered from the slave trade, and an African monarch (Osei Bonsu) who opposed the ending of the slave trade. Of all the commercial ties that linked the early modern world into global network of exchange, none had more profound or enduring human consequences than the Atlantic Slave Trade. And in all these documents, we can see how people reacted differently to this system based on how they encountered it and how it affected them.

An estimated seventeen million men, women, and children were enslaved and transported from Africa to the West Indies by Europeans between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Before these individuals became slaves, there were indentured servants. Between the colonial era and Revolutionary War many changes in the practice of labor were made. Expansion of slavery throughout America brought about different conditions of slave life and Paternalism. Slavery in America was very different before and after the year 1790; these changes greatly affected the conditions in which these individuals lived and are worth analyzing.

In the 1680’s most Africans were working on plantations. As Mintz explains how black slavery become the dominant labor, “ 1680’s that Black slavery became the dominant labor system on plantations ” (2, Mintz). The colonists wanted the africans because they would work the best on plantations. This quote demonstrates the colonists gained power because more slaves were sold and The colonists gained more profit. In the Colonial America the slaves were being carried to the New World. As Olaudah Equiano illustrates how the slaves were brought to the new world, “ These filled me with astonishment which was soon converted into terror ” (1, Equiano). He was scared and like he never experienced slavery in his life. This quote demonstrates that the colonists gained power because the slaves were afraid of them and if they were afraid of them they wouldn’t

1) Columbian Exchange- the Columbian Exchange term is, described as the massive worldwide trade of animals, plants, foods, and slaves. Christopher Columbus first voyage launched an era of extensive contact between the Old and New Worlds that resulted in the ecological revolution. The Columbian Exchange is important because, it affected every society on earth, by bringing devastating diseases that depopulated many cultures.

During the development of the colonies and the nation as a whole, slaves were utilized in order to produce the crops and perform laborious tasks that were “below” white people. In the 1660s, there was an increased demand for tobacco products as well as indigo and rice in England (“African American Slavery in the Colonial Era, 1619-1775”). In order to fulfill the demand, there was a spike in interest in purchasing slaves. More and more slaves were needed to produce larger amounts of crops for the plantation owners.

Slaves were not usually treated with respect in the households they worked in, most of the time, slaves were treated horribly. They would be raped, beaten, teased, whipped, and were victims of many cruel and unusual punishments that are unimaginable to the human race present day. Family was the most important thing to the African culture. Brothers tried their hardest to look over their younger sisters as best as possible. Old women and men with no family members to turn to, looked to the comfort of nieces, nephews, and cousins when they fell ill, and aunts and uncles played a primary part in the family as well. Men were not the only ones that were forced to take part in daily labor and routines but also women and children. Some slaves were assigned outside work in which they would tend the crops and more commonly known work the plantations on their masters estate. Women were more commonly assigned to kitchen work such as cleaning the houses, washing clothes, cooking meals, working as servants, and tending to the masters each and every need. Most women who worked in the houses were brutally raped by their masters whether or not they were married to a man or not. Although most women worked in a home setting, there were some women who did work outside with the men and children. Work was difficult on the slaves and their masters were not empathetic towards them in

Slave men were needed for labour wok. Many slave women were required to keep the slave men, or slave owner men, company and as domestic and plantation workers, and were therefore not pitied or seen as being that weak. They also were seen as producers of the next generation of slaves, and was therefore mainly raped and abused by many masters. On average, a woman would have her first child at twenty years old. Salve women were also seen as not having high morals and as they were the property of the slave owner men then they could do what they like to them, and therefore it was not seen as rape. It was often also the case that white slave owner women would prostitute their women slaves to white men. Although men were more likely to flee, the lives enslave women led were mostly the reasons why they rebelled and attempted to escape from their lives; however, either would suffer worse consequences if or when they were captured as it was an offence to rebel against slavery. Slave women did all kinds of work, depending on their age or health, as did the slave children. The children under twelve years old cleaned the fields. Those over 12 years old were given light workloads to do, unless they were sick or the girls were pregnant or just had a child; some masters were malicious enough to make their pregnant slave women work even harder during pregnancy. Those that were sixteen years old and upwards did the heavy workload, while the elderly women supervised all the others. Slave women

Position PaperThe average cost of a slave is $90 dollars nowadays. According to the US Department of State's 2007 Trafficking in Persons report, there are 800,00 people trafficked across international borders every year; 80% of those victims being female and 50% of these people being children under the age of 18. Slave-Owners often use the term "euphemisms" instead of 'slavery' in order to avoid getting caught. Such euphemisms include: debt bondage, bonded labor, attached labor, restavec ( French word meaning "one who stays with" ), forced labor, and indentured servitude. At the moment, India is the country with the highest number of people living as slaves. Norway states that the trafficking of humans/Modern Slavery is a crime and must be