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Effect of the transatlantic slave trade
The impact of the transatlantic slave trade on slaves
The economic impact of the slave trade
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Throughout the 18th century, many continents traded their goods in the Trans-Atlantic Trade. This process was the outcome of demand for raw materials in the Old World, and a need to make money in the New World. In addition, this trade was the source of many historical events, and changes in the function of society. The trade paved the path to a new economic structure -- every country was in a race to use as much of their own raw materials as possible, which they got from the colonies. Because the raw materials all came from harsh labor, this gave the white masters feelings of empowerment over their diverse workers in the colonies. The Trans-Atlantic Trade in the 18th century was a necessity in the rising economic principle of mercantilism, …show more content…
As a result of this, the colonies were the source of raw materials that they would send back to their country so that the motherland could manufacture goods. Once the country in the Old World manufactured these products, they were able to send them back to the New World for use there. This whole cycle was the main economic theory at the time and every country was convinced that they would make the most money if they were able to sustain their economic trading internally. Because of this rush to create an economy like this, the countries who had colonies in the New World quickly set up a trading system across the Atlantic so they can start creating their economy off the principles of mercantilism. By selling the manufactured goods back to the colonies, this guaranteed that all money spent would be used to benefit the seller's economy and would help focus the colonies on only having to provide the raw materials. Mercantilism helped create a relationship where both worlds relied on each other to have their country survive, and needed each other to rise to the top of the economic …show more content…
One of the main groups of colonists who used the Africans for this purpose was the South Carolina colonists. They wanted to grow rice, however rice is a very labor intensive crop. Rice only grows in rice paddies, which needed to be in a very harsh climate and were always swarmed with mosquitos. Because the Africans were immune to malaria, which the mosquitoes carried, the colonists used the slaves to farm these fields even in the terrible conditions. The colonists were willing to treat the slaves however was needed in order to make a profit, so that they could send back the valuable crop of rice to their motherland. The colonists again acted as supremacists to the black slaves, and their only purpose of all this labor and trade was to internally help their
It was expected to result in a favorable balance of trade, with imports not exceeding exports. The significance of this term is that this system allowed gold and silver to flow into England, bringing economic expansion. As a result, these mercantile policies laid the ground for overseas colonization and allowed England to rise as a challenge to Spanish power in the New World.
In a similar economic revolution, the colonies outgrew their mercantile relationship with the mother country and developed an expanding capitalist system of their own. With Britain's reliance on the mercantile system it rubbed off on most of the colonies. They wanted to be self sufficient so that they would not have to resort on help from other countries. The Southern colonies for example relied heavily on trade with England. This was caused by the geography in the south, because it was mostly a tidewater region. This allowed ships to sail deep within the south. Therefore cotton from Georgia was sent across to England, then it was made into thread or such. It was then sent back to the colonies were it was to be made into various items. Due to the geographic location of the northern ...
The trans-Atlantic trade of African slaves contributed to maintaining progression of labor systems as well as promoting change in the British North American colonies. The slaves provided labor and helped produce the cash crops that were then exported to Europe where they traded the goods to trade with Africans for more slaves. The Africans enslaved each other and sold more slaves to be sent to the colonies in
Following the success of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas in the early16th century, the Spaniards, French and Europeans alike made it their number one priority to sail the open seas of the Atlantic with hopes of catching a glimpse of the new territory. Once there, they immediately fell in love the land, the Americas would be the one place in the world where a poor man would be able to come and create a wealthy living for himself despite his upbringing. Its rich grounds were perfect for farming popular crops such as tobacco, sugarcane, and cotton. However, there was only one problem; it would require an abundant amount of manpower to work these vast lands but the funding for these farming projects was very scarce in fact it was just about nonexistent. In order to combat this issue commoners back in Europe developed a system of trade, the Triangle Trade, a trade route that began in Europe and ended in the Americas. Ships leaving Europe first stopped in West Africa where they traded weapons, metal, liquor, and cloth in exchange for captives that were imprisoned as a result of war. The ships then traveled to America, where the slaves themselves were exchanged for goods such as, sugar, rum and salt. The ships returned home loaded with products popular with the European people, and ready to begin their journey again.
In a similar economic revolution, the colonies outgrew their mercantile relationship with the mother country and developed an expanding capitalist system of their own. England's economic system was primarily based on mercantilism, which was directly related to the colonies. This concept of mercantilism said that wealth is power and however much power you have is how much gold and silver one country has in its treasury. For this concept to take place, England had to export more than import. Because the colonies had the raw materials needed England set up laws such as navigation laws to restrict what the colonies coul...
The Transatlantic Slave Trade started out as merchant trading of different materials for slaves. With obtaining a controllable form of labor being their main focus, the Europeans began to move to Africa and take over their land. The natives had to work on the newly stolen land to have a source of income to provide for their families.Soon others Europeans began to look for free labor by scouring the continent of Africa. Because Europeans were not familiar with the environment, Africans were employed to kidnap other Africans for the Transatlantic Slave Trade. After trade routes were established, different economies began to link together, and various items were exchanged across the world. As the Atlantic Slave Trade grew larger, problems began
The French and Indian War impacted the trans-Atlantic economic relationship between the motherland and her colonies. Before the war colonists were rushing to buy new British manufactured goods resulting from the early stages of the industrial revolution. To pay for these manufactured goods, colonists increased their export of raw materials for sale to Britain. Although the exports were able to pay for a significant portion of cost of British imports, a significant shortfall was covered by British loans. This economic relationship saturated much of pre-French and Indian War colonial America and became normal. After 1763, Britain was in dreadful need for revenue to pay for the French and Indian War. Britain was clever on finding ways to raise revenue from the colonies. From 1650 to the end of the French and Indian War was a period of "salutary neglect." Britain had very little involvement in the lifestyle of the colonies. After the French and Indian War, mercantilism became strictly enforced. Merc...
Cotton, spices, silk, and tea from Asia mingled in European markets with ivory, gold, and palm oil from Africa; furs, fish, and timber from North America; and cotton, sugar, and tobacco from both North and South America. The lucra¬tive trade in enslaved human beings provided cheap labor where it was lacking. The profits accrued in Europe, increasingly in France and Britain as the Portuguese, Spanish, and then Dutch declined in relative power. It was a global network, made possible by the advancing tech¬nology of the colonialists.
In a similar economic revolution, the colonies out grew their mercantile relationship with England and developed their own expanding capitalist system. The idea of a set amount of wealth in the world and that if one were to become wealthy, he or she had to take from someone who is already wealthy, is basically what mercantilism means.
Another benefit to having the Africans as slaves was because they were immune to most European diseases. They had no one to help them escape or fight against their mistreatment, no friends in the Americas, no allies, and no knowledge of how America’s layout looked liked or even where America was to escape to their homes in Africa, they were the perfect type for being slaves. The appeal of having these people live on their land to care for their farms was to keep an eye on their investments. The slaves would reproduce with each other and the children were held hostage, or born into
The plantation owners saw two advantages to having African American slaves as opposed to the white servants. Some African Americans came to the colonies already in possession of the skills needed to cultivate rice, and they could teach these skills to their masters. The second reason was that Africans tended to be immune to malaria and yellow fever, both of which existed heavily in the marshes2. Requiring slaves to cultivate the marshes made for a more efficient way to produce the rice.
Europe gained power and world influences through commercial revolution during the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The Commercial Revolution was a time when trade and business began to evolve, it developed the economies of Europe. Due to the Age of Exploration, Europeans discovered and colonized the Americas, which led to trading worldwide. Colonies were to benefit the mother countries in Europe through mercantilism. Mercantilism is an economic system where colonies provide raw materials for the mother countries to manufacture and sell/export the products. A mother country with more imports of silver, gold, and raw materials meant the more powerful; the more exports of manufactured goods and valuables meant the wealthier. Demand for goods
One facet of this unique system involved the numerous economic differences between England and the colonies. The English government subscribed to the economic theory of mercantilism, which demanded that the individual subordinate his economic activity to the interests of the state (Text, 49). In order to promote mercantilism in all her colonies, Great Britain passed the Navigation Acts in 1651, which controlled the output of British holdings by subsidizing. Under the Navigation Acts, each holding was assigned a product, and the Crown dictated the quantity to be produced. The West Indies, for example, were assigned sugar production and any other colony exporting sugar would face stiff penalties (Text, 50). This was done in order to ensure the economic prosperity of King Charles II, but it also served to restrict economic freedom. The geographical layout of the American colonies made mercantilism impractical there. The cit...
Economic concerns of the British caused the colonization of British North America. Such economic concerns included the opportunity to acquire gold, silver, a North American waterway that would lead directly to China and the Indies, and the prospect of countering Spain's dominance in North America (Boorstin et al. 34). In addition to these economic reasons for colonization, the English were also seeking to obtain the essential "raw materials" in America that they had been previously buying from other European countries for exorbitant amounts of money and gold (Boorstin et al. 34). Great Britain also sought to solve other economic problems through American colonization. For example, England needed to replenish some of its diminishing materials and assets, generate another "market" to export its cargo and merchandise, maintain its powerful navy and "merchant marine" through business with new American colonies, and to provide a new place for the unemployed to settle rather than escalating populace/crime and the economic burden in its own cities (Boorstin et al. 34).
In the 19th century, America had a basic economy and small industry. It was also a new country, with few customs and traditions. It had not had time to acquire any, because it was still so new. America has grown a lot since then, and a lot of the steps we have taken to get to today's bustling economy and immense industry took place in the nineteenth century. Commerce and industry contributed to America's nineteenth century identity because it provided the framework for a larger economy in the future, helped drive western expansion and growth of cities, made an improved transportation system necessary, and forced many new inventions onto the market