The History Of Slavery In Portugal And The Atlantic Slave Trade

Slaves were bought and sold in many places, mostly for laboring farm land. In the Atlantic world during the 1500's and 1600’s there were many causes and effects to African slave trade. Many Europeans needed slaves to labor on their lands.

The Atlantic Slave Trade was a very important time in history. When the records of the Atlantic slave Trade are reflected upon ,the impacts of the shipboards revolts are often times overseen .Although these revolts did have an immense effect on the political, views of the Slave trade. Richardson’s “shipboard revolts,African Authority,and the Atlantic slave trade”. brings into view the fluctuating causes and effects of shore based, and shipboard insurrection . Because of Richardson occupation it grants him reliability to all of his claims and supports his opinions His profession of studying economics and international ,offers him a profusion amount of education in the countries which were involved in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Richardson expose the indispensable impacts of shipboard revolts , African Leadership on the Atlantic slave trade, the author accomplishes this by painting out the causes an effects of each specific revolt an also by exposing the progress.

Everyone has their own understanding of what slavery is, but there are misconceptions about the history of “slavery”. Not many people understand how the slave trade initially began. Originally Africa had “slaves” but they were servants or serfs, sometimes these people could be part of the master’s family. They could own land, rise to positions of power, and even purchase their freedom. This changed when white captains came to Africa and offered weapons, rum, and manufactured goods for people. African kings and merchants gave away the criminals, debtors, and prisoner from rival tribes. The demand for cheap labor was increasing, this resulted in the forced migration of over ten million slaves. The Atlantic Slave Trade occurred from 1500 to 1880 CE. This large-scale event changed the economy and histories of many places. The Atlantic Slave Trade held a great amount of significance in the development of America. Africans shaped America by building a solid foundation for the country.

The two majors drivers that led to the transatlantic slave trade was the European desire for the agricultural products of the Americas and the need for laborers to work the land in the Americas. All participants, besides for the slaves, benefited from the trading.

Slavery became an established activity in America by 1600’s. The slaves were mostly to provide free and cheap labor. Apart from America, slavery was practiced in other parts of the world throughout history, and in fact it can be traced back to the time of the ancient civilization. With industrial revolution especially with the rise of sugar plantations, the slaves were used to grow sugar in the periods from 1100. This intensified between 1400 and 1500 when Portugal and Spain ventured into sugar growing in the eastern Atlantic regions. The growth of the plantations required labor, hence African slaves were bought from Africa, to provide labor.

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

The first African slaves were believed to have landed in Portuguese in 1442, the Portuguese merchants of this time were known to trade goods for slaves with Nigerians. The Portuguese were well known for trading slaves prior to the Europeans discovering America in 1492. According to an article titled The Transatlantic Slave Trade, “By 1490 approximately more than 3,000 slaves a year were being transported to Portugal and Spain from Africa”. Once Europeans colonized American land this began the three-way slave trade between Europe, Africa, and America. Majority of the slaves during this time came from slave traders in Nigeria, which was known to be majorly controlled by the Aro, Oyo, and Hausa groups. These slave trade groups were often under heavy pressure of the slave economy to constantly provide slaves for trading which resulted in war amongst the groups.

The Shipwreck Shines Light on Historic Shift in Slave Trade showed a historic shift of the Portuguese slave trade in December 1794. It reveal according to the National Geographic, “More than 400 men, women, and children lay shackled in the ship’s hold, their fates bound to the merciless law of supply and demand.” The Portuguese slave traders of Africa had their vessel ready to partake of a trying journey. The 7000-mile journey from Mozambique was on a high turbulence of waters crossing the Atlantic to Brazil. This was a high risk and based on a financial gain.

The Atlantic Slave Trade was a system of slavery that took place between the 16th and 19th centuries. It comprised of capturing African tribesmen and women from areas of Western and Central Africa and placing them into the colonies of the New World in North, Central, and South America. Many countries like England, Portugal, Spain, Holland, and France, had participated in enslaving the African peoples. The African slaves were used to exploit an array of commodities such coffee, cotton, rum, sugar, and tobacco, and eventually they had become commodities themselves. Often times the slaves were treated awfully by their owners. Most were forced to work long and tiresome hours on plantations to acquire said commodities, and then use them to create products that would be later sold. The slaves did not receive any profits from the sale of the products that they produced, but they were paid with basic needs such as shelter and food. The revenue that was produced by slave labour was highly profitable, but in turn it was counter acted by the cost of keeping the slave labourers alive and well. By the end of the 18th century a period known as the Industrial Revolution had swept Europe, especially England, and her colonial partners. Never before had production been so cheap and efficient. Many believe that the enslavement of Africans was necessary to initiate the industrial revolution. They believe that the slaves provided the foundation to the development of the revolution, and without

There are a series of events that led to the Atlantic slave trade. At first slaves were indentured servants in Portugal, “but as European powers acquired new territories in the Americas, slaves were needed as a source of labor” Sugar was the biggest need for slave labor and Portugal had plantations located in the Americas. Portugal decided to import slaves from Africa rather than having Native Americans be laborers, because Africans were more efficient.

Several slaves preferred to jump from the boats and die in deep sea than being brought to countries like America and being traded like animals by slave owners. Approximately 12 million slaves were transported to the Americas between the 17th and 19th century in the so called “Trans-Atlantic slave trade”. Portugal was one of the first countries to transport Africans to America to work as slaves in sugar plantations in Cape Verde. This essay will focus on the processes that originated the Atlantic slave trades, how slavery emerged in the United states, and in the post-slavery life of African Americans.

The Atlantic Slave Trade was one of the worst events in the world. From the 16th century to the 19th century, a considerable number of slaves were captured and traded. During the 18th century, a surplus number of slaves were transported to the Americas, this is where the story begins. Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing introduces readers to two important characters, Esi and Quey. Esi is a fifteen-year-old girl who is a slave. Quey is the son a British soldier. Both characters story take place during the middle of the Atlantic Slave Trade to the end, highlighting the different perspectives they have during the Atlantic Slave Trade. Esi and Quey’s stories show violence in West Africa through different hierarchies leading to the capturing of select members; which caused an unproductive economy.

The institution of slavery was a big part of life in colonial Latin America. According Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 11.2 million slaves were imported to the Americas from Africa between 1502 and 1866. Most of the slaves were transported to the Caribbean and Latin America. In fact, Brazil got a total of about 4.8 million slaves (Black in LA). The working and living conditions for slaves were horrific. So many slaves were imported specifically because slaves were expendable. Slave holders could afford to undernourish their slaves due to the slave market. Slaves were in high demand in colonial Latin America. Some slaves resisted their enslavement by running away to form quilombos, or maroon communities.

The most famous example of this kind of slavery is found in America, during the 16th, 17th and 18th century. During this time, America's southern states were dominated by slavery, and the vast majority of plantations were essentially run by black slaves, imported from Africa. The slave trade was founded in 1444, by the Portuguese who, sensing the need for more slaves, ventured to use Africans. They realised that the

In the Renaissance, slaves were starting to be used in plantations, mostly in America, but also in plantations in Italy and off the coast of Africa (Gascoigne). So, in both the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, at least some slaves were used for hard labor. The Portuguese were the first to put slaves to work in plantations, and slaves soon came to be used on plantations in the Americas by nations such as Spain, Holland, France, England, and the Netherlands. The first slaves they enslaved in these colonies were the native peoples, but soon, the native population began to dwindle. Since Portugal had been exploring the coast of Africa and since Africa had a booming population of people, Africans became the people they predominantly enslaved (Guild). Thus, racial slavery was started. Blacks came to be viewed as lower than human, and this view spread to all the nations which came to have plantations in America. Millions of blacks were imported to plantations for sugar, spices, tobacco, coffee, etc. during the span of the Renaissance (Hornsby).