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Unfair treatment for native americans
The effect of the Atlantic slave trade
The effect of the Atlantic slave trade
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Recommended: Unfair treatment for native americans
Whether native or foreign, the forced laborers discussed in the five historical documents—“A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes”, “Description of a Slave Market in Rio de Janeiro”, “Notes on the Treatment of the Natives in Northeast Siberia”, “Mercury Mining in Huanacavelica and Silver Mining in Potosí”, and “The General Slavery at Achin”—were impelled to fulfill responsibilities and lead lives that were believably unnatural, being that those laborers forced to work were typically exposed to extreme and destitute living conditions due to the mandatory demands of their overseer, while those “enslaved” in the country of Sumatra were allowed profuse independency in comparison to drudges elsewhere in the world. Depending on their geographic location, some forced laborers shared a similar style of governance, while the others faced severely contrasting ways of life.
As part of the Atlantic chattel slavery system, Ligon explained the harsh lifestyle and living conditions that the autonomous society forced upon its laborers in 17th century Barbados through his written description in “A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes”. According to Ligon, “the grueling work…during the harvest season ran without stopping from Monday at 1 A.M. through Saturday night” (Richard Ligon 114). Any educated reader could infer that the mandated labor created an extreme and highly unreasonable lifestyle that is unnatural for any human being. Living conditions included scarce meals, where “the servants [ate] no bone meat at all, unless an ox died and then they were feasted as long as that lasted. And till they had planted good store plantains, the Negroes were fed with food which gave them much discontent,” and living quarters were...
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...ouses, as if they were free People” (Captain William Dampier 142). In comparison to the strict, intolerant ways of forced labor discussed previously, Sumatra’s enslavement appeared significantly more permissive, allowing laborers to act more freely and independent.
Whether native or foreign to the lands on which the enslaved were forced to labor, the good majority of forced laborers were impelled by their overseer to deal with extreme conditions and perform unnatural duties. Experiencing destitute conditions and intense responsibility was a major part in the lives of most forced laborers, but for the rare extremity, slaves had a more significant amount of freedom. Although the typical enslaved peoples faced similar governing dominance and autonomy, there were others who experienced differing lifestyles. This definitely makes for worlds together, yet worlds apart.
One of the major questions asked about the slave trade is ‘how could so Europeans enslave so many millions of Africans?” Many documents exist and show historians what the slave trade was like. We use these stories to piece together what it must have been to be a slave or a slaver. John Barbot told the story of the slave trade from the perspective of a slaver in his “A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea.” Barbot describes the life of African slaves before they entered the slave trade.
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.
Chambers, Glenn A. . "From Slavery to Servitude: The African and Asian Struggle for Freedom in Latin America and the Caribbean." Herbert S. Klein and Ben Vinson III. 36.
Examining primary sources can be a useful tool to provide partial insights of past events. Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Narrative is an example of a primary source that provides insights on 18th century New World slavery. His autobiography takes the reader on a journey starting from his village in Africa through the slave trade to the West. He reveals many insights on slavery, but there are also limitations that do not provide the full picture, which is to be expected. Nevertheless, Equiano’s autobiography provides important insights on 18th century New World slavery through his experiences and the experiences of others.
To understand the desperation of wanting to obtain freedom at any cost, it is necessary to take a look into what the conditions and lives were like of slaves. It is no secret that African-American slaves received cruel and inhumane treatment. Although she wrote of the horrific afflictions experienced by slaves, Linda Brent said, “No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." The life of a slave was never a satisfactory one, but it all depended on the plantation that one lived on and the mast...
Mattoso, Katia M de Queiros: To be a slave in Brazil 1550-1888 (New Jersey, 1986)
The transatlantic slave trade paved the way for mass distribution of the human civilizations strongest labor force. The thought of using other humans as a means of production was first internal only within Africa but as other nations began to witness the degradation of one race, they saw an opportunity to tap into the weakened morals of one race which in turn allowed the Africans to fall into a lower class. Thus began the dispersion of slaves to other nations needing to fill the labor gap. An event that represents the beginning moment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade within the readings arise when Equiano was on watch with one of his sisters and was kidnapped by a group of people. Ever since Equiano was kidnapped, he was sold numerous times through different masters and traveled coast to coast. Equiano also witnessed the first time in his life a slave ship that was filled with black people of every description chained together with dejection and sorrowful expressions, and it was then that he realized the future that awaits him. Through the descriptions and Equiano’s wish for his former slavery in preference to the present condition he was in, we can imagine how awful and dehumanizing the slaves were being treated on shore. According to Equiano, many of the African slaves had the unpleasant personalities and traits that were similar with the white slave owners on the ship because of the close interaction that they had with each other. According to Gomez’s Reversing Sail, the beginning moment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade occurred because “Muslim forces in al-Andalus were never in control of the entire Iberian Peninsula and were continually threatened by Christian enemies during their nearly 800-year rule” (Gomez 59). As a result, “in both Iberia and the
Slave trading was very traumatic for the slaves, being separated from the only thing they knew. Some lived on plantations under a watchful eye, and others worked right beside their owners. Slaves on large plantations usually worked in gangs, and there were better positions to work than others. Some gangs were separated into groups of lighter workers, consisting of men and women. Other gangs weren't so lucky and were assigned to hard labor.
Slaves had an expanding economic force for the Europeans. “Trade between the Europeans and Africans created the first route of the triangular slave trade”. African citizens were “forcibly removed from their homes to never return”. Sales of Africans were classified as having the full cooperation of the “African kings” in return for various trade and goods. Africans who were exchanged were forced to walk chained to the coast of the Indian Ocean. Once at the coast they were stripped of all their clothes, men, women and children all alike with just a loincloth, or strips of blue tap for women to cover their chest area. Once the Africans boarded the ship they were divided by sex, males in the bowel of the ship and the women on the upper deck. The men would be chained side by side by their necks with barely enough room to move. African women were forced to do the “unmentionable acts”. Neither were fed or watered well, and the men would be forced to sit in their own “excrement, and vomit”. Once in awhile the men would be brought to the deck and rinsed off with cold water. While on deck they would be forced to dance to “entertain the ships crew”. Many Africans would try to “revolt” or commit “suicide”, when revolting against their captors many Africans would die. For as much as “3- 6 months” the Africans would endure these torments. Once the ship ported in the America’s shore, all the Africans would be “cleaned up and stripped naked to be sold”. Once the Africans were sold they were no longer Africans to the Merchants, they were product, and, no longer having rights as humans; they were caught into what is called chattel slavery. For approximately “246 years” African Americans would endure such bondage.
Often slaves were traded like livestock and forced to relocate from their familiar to the unknown. Female slaves were often raped by their male owners. Any offspring from such encounters suffered additionally due to resentment from the owner’s wife and were also often forced to relocate. Food and clothing were meagerly provided. Slave labor was incessant. Abuse and brutality were rampant. Beatings and whippings were common place. Numerous slave killings were never brought to justice. Fear and hopelessness knew no bounds. In this environment of both physical and mental control, slaves were made to fear for their own safety too much to attempt to stop the brutality. Through this dehumanization, they became virtual participants in the
The 1600’s were a time of expansion in the new world. Unfortunately the development of this area led slavery to be the main source of labor. As history teaches us slavery was used extensively in the new world. The main areas of concern of this paper are how slavery in the Caribbean carried over its practice in the American South. The slave system was implemented in the Caribbean on a larger scale before the South implemented their system. The slave plantations of the Caribbean served as a learning platform for the slavery system in the south. The development of Caribbean slave laws, slave revolts, transfer of information on this practice to the South and the South’s implementation of these slave laws, and the slave issues in check.
Slavery is older than the first human records. Slavery was not based on race and not until the 15th century associated with people of African descent. (Source G). In learning about the history of slavery, we can only go so far in looking through our textbooks. However, often times, if you look hard enough you can find witnesses who have been there in slavery. We receive i...
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.
When one thinks of slavery, they may consider chains holding captives, beaten into submission, and forced to work indefinitely for no money. The other thing that often comes to mind? Stereotypical African slaves, shipped to America in the seventeenth century. The kind of slavery that was outlawed by the 18th amendment, nearly a century and a half ago. As author of Modern Slavery: The Secret World of 27 Million People, Kevin Bales, states, the stereotypes surrounding slavery often confuse and blur the reality of slavery. Although slavery surely consists of physical chains, beatings, and forced labor, there is much more depth to the issue, making slavery much more complex today than ever before.
conditions aboard ship were dreadful. The maximum number of slaves was jammed into the hull, chained to forestall revolts or suicides by drowning. Food, ventilation, light, and sanitatio...