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Economic effects of slave trade
Economic effects of slave trade
Economic effects of slave trade
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Slaves of Cocoa: The Reasons Why and How to Reverse In the book Bitter Chocolate by Carol Off, is found a passage on a boy’s account of being sold into slavery. At only the age of fourteen, he went looking for an opportunity to make some money. After being deceived by a child trafficker, and brought by night through the jungle, the author goes on to say, “…a stranger came for him. Money changed hands between the man who had taken him from the bus station and the stranger. The transaction completed, Malik and the other boy were told to leave with the individual. …for the next several years… Malik slaved on a cocoa plantation” (125). This is just one of many accounts that occur daily. To best understand this problem, which is very prominent in Cote d’Ivoire, a region that supplies about half of the world’s cocoa, the economy and those that influence it must be taken into consideration. Several issues must be addressed in order for cocoa farmers to receive more pay for their crop, which in turn will reduce slavery. The issue of slavery, of course, has not been without dispute. This opposition has primarily, if not entirely, come from the major companies that profit off the cocoa purchased from Cote d’Ivoire. Such opinions included are that the price of the crop cannot be increased as it would be “price fixing.” Another argument is that there is no real slavery occurring, but that it is merely the working standards of the country. Finally, one could argue that paying more for the crops would raise the prices for consumers, and at the same time does little or nothing in the way of improving working conditions. Such opinions must have facts, and then draw logical conclusions from them. The first thing to consider of these opinions is... ... middle of paper ... ... eliminated. This is exemplified by the ethics by which the company Green & Black’s acted upon. In Carol Off’s book, she states, “Green & Black’s played the ethical card to the hilt, putting the message that it was paying a premium price for the cocoa beans while allowing African farmers a chemical-free environment” (281). Though their chocolate cost more than others’ did, they were able to pay farmers well, and stipulate a healthier approach- organic. Such can be done on a larger scale, but is being avoided by big companies, whose best interest lies in profit. Seeing how slavery can be greatly reduced, which has been successfully demonstrated, begs the question: what than will it take for big business to implement these changes? Works Cited Off, Carol. “Bitter Chocolate: The Dark Side of The World’s Most Seductive Sweet” Random House, Toronto, Canada. 2006. Print.
Sugar plantations have a field where sugar cane stalks are cut and grown and then there are boiling house where sugar cane stalks are crushed and boiled which is all runned by slave labor. Because slaves planted the cane stalks, harvested sugar stalks, crushed them, and boiled the sugar stalks sugar was made(8). According to David richardson the slave Trade, Sugar, and British Economic growth, “An Average purchase price of adult male slave on west African coast in 1748 was 14£ and in 1768 was 16£”(9a).Because slaves were so cheap slave traders may profit by, selling adult male slaves to sugar plantation owners for twice as much as they bought them in Africa. John Campbell Candid and Impartial Considerations on the Nature of the Sugar Trade describes the slaves as “so necessary Negro slaves purchased in Africa by English merchants”(11). Because africa trade slaves to English merchants Africans got things they did not
In Africans In America Terrible Transformation written by PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) writes an article stating the historical background of African Americans that were captured and enslaved from Western Africa from 1450-1750. About 200,000 Africans were transported to Europe Islands in the Atlantic. But after Columbus excursion, Slave traders found a new market for slaves: New World plantations. From this, they were used for the planting crops for the Europeans that were uneducated how farm such as, rice, cotton, tobacco, and sugar in the south. It wasn’t till the American Revolution where they protest against “enslavement” from the British and demands from American “liberty” for some hope of being free from bondage . After reading
Servitude is a usual part of African ritual. Tribes would often use trade to obtain slaves by going to the head chief and trading for livestock. Not only did various tribes trade with the people of their countries, but with the Europeans of other nationalities as well. There were times that tribes would go to war and keep chiefs and prisoners of war were kept as slaves, to trade with European countries. Many times slaves were sold due to being punished, or to rape and other various crimes. Some were also forced into life of captivity. It was common for young individuals to be kidnapped and taken to a home of a common family to work and serve them. Many owners would treat their slaves fairly. The masters would own a piece of property and have an apartment for their own personal family along with a home for the enslaved family. Equiano talks about how many slaves owned their own slaves in some cases. If a family was wealthy enough, they would accommodate their property, meaning the slaves. They were a part of the owner’s family and were as brutally treated comparing to slaves of the Colonial U.S.
Zak, L. (2009, 04). Not all's fair in love of chocolate. Food Magazine, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198287549?accountid=12964
As stated earlier, Mercado writes about the illegitimate practices used by Spaniards to capture and sell Africans. He also documents the details how Africans sold each other into slavery to the Spanish for a profit. In describing how Africans sold each other into slavery, Mercado writes, “Parents selling their children as a last resort, there is the bestial practice of selling them without any necessity to do so, and very often through anger or passion, for some displeasure or disrespect they have shown them” (Mercado). From this, it is seen that not only are the Africans being captured by Europeans but they are also being captured by their own people to be sold to the Europeans. Even worse is the fact that Africans even sold their own children into slavery. In the writings of Azurara, he describes a company of African captives in the following passage. “For some kept their heads low and their faces bathed in tears, looking one upon another; others stood groaning very dolorously, looking up to the height of heaven, fixing their eyes upon it crying out loudly, as if asking help of the Father of Nature; others struck their faces with the palms of their hands, throwing themselves at full length upon the ground; others made their lamenations in the manner of a dirge, after the custom of their country” (Azurara, 1). Upon reflection, I believe that this is comparable to
The slave trade, yet horrific in it’s inhumanity, became an important aspect of the world’s economy during the eighteenth century. During a time when thousands of Africans were being traded for currency, Olaudah Equiano became one of countless children kidnapped and sold on the black market as a slave. Slavery existed centuries before the birth of Equiano (1745), but strengthened drastically due to an increasing demand for labor in the developing western hemisphere, especially in the Caribbean and Carolinas. Through illogical justification, slave trading became a powerful facet of commerce, regardless of its deliberate mistreatment of human beings by other human beings. Olaudah Equiano was able to overcome this intense adversity and actually accumulate wealth by making the best of certain situations he faced throughout his experiences. Even though he was a victim of the slave trade, he willfully took advantage of the opportunity to see the world and to become a productive individual.
During the early 1800’s the demand for cotton had risen and it was now “King” of plantations in the southern region of the United States, where the climate was best suited. Now more then ever, slavery had become an essential component of most every cotton producing plantation. The Southerners knew slavery was wrong, but made justifications for it; within a span of 30 years these justifications had changed due to abolitionist movements (in the northern half of the county) and economic reasons which made cotton and slavery more profitable than ever.
By the late nineteenth century, France terminated the slave trade in French Cameroon and abolished slavery in the French colony of Martinique. Although the French removed the physical chains on people of African descent living in French territories, the remnant of slavery and colonialism continues to manifest itself through the mental enslavement and exploitation of people of continental Africa and the African Diaspora. In Jean-Marie Téno’s unorthodox documentary about the history of Cameroon, Africa, I Will Fleece You, and Euzhan Palcy’s film set on the island of Martinique, Sugar Cane Alley, they shed light on the transferable nature of slavery and colonialism in postcolonial societies. Accordingly, Téno’s, Africa, I Will Fleece You, and Palcy’s, Sugar Cane Alley, manipulate
Many parties played a part in the existence of slavery in the colonial America; the most notable was the impact that it had on the personal and financial growth of the people and the nation. In the United States of America for instance, capitalism has always been a double edge sword. It began as a driving force in pushing along the economical growth, but it came at the price of the African society who were captured as slaves. History explains that it was implied and enforced that Africans were a lesser class through the means in which they were used by slave owners to advance their wealth and stature. It was seen that the larger the plantation, the wealthier and more successful people were. It means that the more one would have more slaves, the higher chances he would be prosperous. The slaves were the one who were seen to be in the position of working in the hot sun. Such condition made the slavery to be a necessity, more so to the large firm owners. The African slaves were regarded as a significant as a large, dependable and permanent source of cheap labor because slaves rarely ran away and when caught they were severely punished . The creation of the plantation system more so in America, where the assertation factors in maintaining the idea of
The debate over the economic advantages of slavery in the South has raged ever since the first slaves began working in the cotton fields of the Southern States. Initially, the wealth of the New World was in the form of raw materials and agricultural goods such as cotton, sugar, and tobacco. The continuing demand for slaves' labor arose from the development of plantation agriculture, the long-term rise in prices and consumption of sugar, and the demand for miners. Not only did Africans represent skilled laborers, but also they were a relatively cheap resource to the South. Consequently, they were well suited for plantation agriculture. Whi...
In “Slaves and the ‘Commerce’ of the Slave Trade,” Walter Johnson describes the main form of antebellum, or pre-Civil War, slavery in the South being in the slave market through domestic, or internal, slave trade. The slave trade involves the chattel principle, which said that slaves are comparable to chattels, personal property that is movable and can be bought or sold. Johnson identified the chattel principle as being central to the emergence and expansion of slavery, as it meant that slaves were considered inferior to everyone else. As a result, Johnson argued that slaves weren’t seen as human beings and were continually being mistreated by their owners. Additionally, thanks to the chattel principle, black inferiority was inscribed
2 John Bowe, author of Nobodies: Modern Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy said if he could sum up what his book was about it would be “we all seek control. Control equals power. Power corrupts. Corruption makes us blind, tyrannical, and desperate to justify our behavior” (268). He is writing about the slave trade happening in our own Land of the Free. He wants Americans to be aware of the slave trade and recognize that it is not only happening in other countries, but effects items we use in our everyday lives, like the clothes we wear and the food we eat. As he is an immersion reporter, he visits three different sites of slavery: Florida, Tulsa, and Saipan. The stories and facts in this book are all from people who experienced some aspect of the abuses he writes about, whether a victim, a lawyer, or just a witness to the heinous crimes. He is not satisfied with half truths, which seem to fly at him, especially from those who did the abusing he was talking about, he does his research well and I appreciated that while reading this book.
Slavery in the eighteenth century grew due to increased labor force that was needed in the plantations with increased knowledge of farming and industrialization in the plantations. After the colonization of North America by the Europeans, large tracts of land were available for farming and plantations. A number of white plantation owners brought in slaves to work since they were cheaper to use in providing labor. As a result, other plantations owners saw the advantage of using slaves as laborers (Litwack, 2009). A large number of slaves brought into America were Africans captured and transported to slave owners who submitted them to hard labor in the plantations. With no or small amount used as expenditure ad salaries, most plantations farmers opted to use slaves to provide them with labor. These slaves were made to work in the tobacco, rice and indigo plantations with harsh living conditions since they were either immigrants or unable to return to their countries. This paper compares and contrasts slavery in the North and South America.
In the novel, Abina And The Important Men written by Trevor Getz and Liz Clarke, Abina who is a woman from West Africa who was wrongfully enslaved and decided to bring it to the attention of the courts in 1876. While reading this book, the reader begins to see how the officials in Britain where turning a blind eye to the fact that slavery was indeed present all for the sake of maintaining there economic status as well as maintaining good relations with the “important men” of West Africa. Palm oil is one of the most valuable as well as important harvests and the men described in the book as the head of production are equally as valuable. The power and authority that these men have on the growth of the economy is what allows the reader to see that these men are the “important men”. Because palm oil is an important factor in the economic status of West Africa, the men who are in charge of producing it are equally as important. Abina believed that her enslavement was without merit and was willing to do whatever it took to get somebody to listen to her and to eventually take the man who did keep her as a slave, to court. Because, the man was a palm oil grower, this case would not be, in the least bit, a silent matter. Thanks to the new laws being enforced against slavery however, Abina’s story would now be put placed in the mercy of Judge William Melton who thought she deserved a fighting chance.
This class was filled with riveting topics that all had positive and negative impacts on Africa. As in most of the world, slavery, or involuntary human servitude, was practiced across Africa from prehistoric times to the modern era (Wright, 2000). The transatlantic slave trade was beneficial for the Elite Africans that sold the slaves to the Western Europeans because their economy predominantly depended on it. However, this trade left a mark on Africans that no one will ever be able to erase. For many Africans, just remembering that their ancestors were once slaves to another human, is something humiliating and shameful.