Modern Day Slavery

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Recommended: 16th through 19th century slavery

The word slavery tends to evoke images of Africans being transported in chains during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, victims of the Holocaust during World War II, or Japanese prisoners in the internment camps along the West Coast of the United States. Slavery, also referred to as human trafficking, can be defined as the systematic practice of the removal of individual rights and freedoms as well as the implication of inhumane conditions including forced labor or sex. The United Nations defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transport and receipt of people across borders by improper means, such as force, abduction, fraud or coercion” (“Human Trafficking”). Although there is a tendency to view slavery or human trafficking as an issue of the past, it is evident that servitude remains globally rampant. It is vital to understand modern-day slavery by examining the characteristics of enslavement throughout history, the various methods of forced bondage, and the responses and reactions of modern-day abolitionists to rectify the diabolical acts of slavery.

Abduction is one of the key factors that identifies slavery; the trans-Atlantic slave trade was the emergence of the abduction and transportation of Africans from their homeland to the Americas. An average of 38,000 Africans were brought to the Americas annually during the trans-Atlantic slave trade (Wilberforce 648). As the duration of the trans-Atlantic slave trade increased, the number of people transported also increased. In 1768, there were 167,000 slaves in Jamaica; Governor Keith reported that 193,000 slaves were on the Jamaican island in 1774, and by December of 1787, the number had grown to 256,000 slaves, reported by Lieutenant Governor Clerke (Wilberforce 6...

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...2009.

Pasquier, Michael and Gina Misiroglu. "Amendment, Reconstruction." The Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition. Junius Rodriguez, ed. Vol. 1. Armonk, NY: M.D. Sharpe, Inc., 2007. 23-26. Print.

Skinner, E. Benjamin. "The New Slave Trade." Time International (Atlantic Edition) 175.2 (2010): 28-31. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 Feb. 2010.

Thrupkaew, Noy. "Beyond Rescue." Nation 289.13 (2009): 21-24. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Feb. 2010.

Wignall, Scott. “U.S. Constitution (1789).” The Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition. Junius Rodriguez, ed. Vol. 2. Armonk, NY: M.D. Sharpe, Inc., 2007. 23-26. Print.

Wilberforce, William. “William Wilberforce’s Twelve Propositions.” The Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition. Junius Rodriguez, ed. Vol. 3. Armonk, NY: M.D. Sharpe, Inc., 2007. 23-26. Print.

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