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The Expansion Of Western European Travelers

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The undeniable expansion of Western European travelers came with a toll that has stamped history books with pages of inhumane and unfathomable treatment of people. The slave ship saw the demise of many millions of people but for a few, a re-birth. The slave trade itself saw the destruction of not only families but of the individual human; their mind, body and spirit. The art of destroying the human starts at the root of which they would be most bound to, this being their family. The slave ship and its crew perfected the art of the destruction of the ‘kin’, also known as ones’ familial relations. With the destruction of kinship, a new type of kin was needed, otherwise the enslaved human would find their life meaningless. This thus sprouting …show more content…

2017). The use of slave labourers to produce goods such as cotton and tobacco helped finance the colonial economy and advance the slave trade. This expansion of the slave trade would not have been so successful if the familial ties between the slaves was not broken, without this disconnect, the slave trade may not have been what it was. The beginning of the destruction of the slave does begin with destroying the original kinship but is then further destroyed by the slave ship. The chances of you surviving alone or with total strangers is low which is why there was such a high suicide and death rate board the slave trade ships. Before the slaves boarded the ships for the new world, the slave owners mastered the art of destroying the family. An example of this is in Equiano’s writing as his sisters was “…torn from me, and immediately carried away, while I was left in a state of distraction not to be described. I cried and grieved continually…” (Equiano, 47). Emphasis on the phrase “state of distraction” as this is what makes the sentence so powerful. When the strong kin were broken between him and his sister, he is left in this state, a state that then could be used by the captors to put the thoughts of despair and hopelessness in the enslaved mind. This disconnect of family helped weaken the enslaved to become more submissive and easier to capture, then later to control. Once this disconnect is established and

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