Slavery in the United States

It started as a means of using people as a trade for items such as Tobacco, Sugar and Cotton. It helped the farmers gain more money. The work was hard and there was not enough labor so the white settlers created the slave trade. The slave trade was where the white settlers of Virginia picked up people from Africa to be slaves in America. They took Men, women, and children from their homes to come and be servants or be farmers.

In order to lure these African slaves to the Americas, many were stolen from their home land and/or promised various falsehoods. The Europeans, who employed these slaves, rationalized that they were the superior race to Africans and they were providing a better life for them. Slavery was not always an accepted practice. Early American settlers remained divided as to its morality and legality. Though, in its infancy, the North accepted slavery and practiced its use, it was the South that delved deep into its practice.

Initially, a small amount of African people were captured to become a slave but after the developments of the agriculture in the Caribbean colonies and American mainland, captured Africans begin to grow. During the 16th through 19th century, most European colonies in America required enslaved African labor to survive and develop their economy because European laborers did not suitable for climate and they dealt with tropic diseases, even some of them died from diseases which came from Europe. However, African laborers were suitable for conditions in terms of being used to tropical climate and resistant to diseases and having experience of

But this system only worked "for a little time as these servants would work their time of servitude, and then leave on their own." (Citation 14, 123helpme.com) As a result, plantation owners started buying slaves to work in the fields instead of indentured servants as this provided more labor stability. "An increase in the amount of slaves doing work on plantati... ... middle of paper ... ...ir production of cash crops. This created an increased demand for slaves. Plantation owners were now also importing large amounts of slaves to work their plantation.

In the 17th century the basis of the work force, in mainly the Southern colonies were Europeans labourers, who as indentured servants, offered landowners a solution to their labour shortage. Beginning in the 1680s, the mainland colonies underwent a massive shift, from indentured servants to slave labour, due to requirement of labour in the South. From the early 17th century Africans were shipped to North America to be sold as slaves, against their freewill. Slavery continued to expand even after 1808, when it was declared illegal. African slave trading became the main problem dividing Americans, and could even of been a factor of many, which led to the American Civil War.

Mostly farmers and plantation owners wanted slaves because they would be people who would work for them until their death. They didn’t want those who would end up leaving after a while, so slavery ended up starting. People were importing blacks from Africa and imported them by using the Middle Passage. Slavery soon became a big importance in America, and the slaves were given certain occupations instead of becoming free like everyone else who came to America from Europe. Slavery occupations were very difficult in the colonial times, but most of the difficulty depended on where the slaves were located.

Realizing the expense of owning indentured servants, most owners felt worried about losing their properties and threatened by the fastest-growing groups of freed servants in competing for economic benefits. It was especially true as the Bacon’s Rebellion (a class-based rebellion) against the colonial elite happened in Virginia in 1676 (“American Yawp”). This incident increased the desire for African slaves. Landowners turned to African slaves, as it was a more profitable source. It is because most Africans were more likely to get immunized from diseases, which make the colonists believed that they were suited to work in the plantations; whereas, the native

Some of the workers did have access to money and as a result could negotiate there freedom for a price. In 1732 1/3 of the African population of Choco was free as a result. Less fortunate slaves who found the conditions unbearable fled to even more isolated areas of the back country to survive on their own or in small colonies. The Sugar plantations of Northern Brazil were a major c... ... middle of paper ... ...so manumission possibilities increased. Slaves isolated from family life and culture working in miserable conditions were often flight risks as they had no real options and the terrain lent to good hiding.

A triangular trade route was established with Europe for alcohol and firearms in exchange for slaves. The slaves were then traded with Americans for molasses and (later) cotton. In 1619 the first black slave arrived in Virginia. The demands of European consumers for New World crops and goods helped fuel the slave trade. A strong family and community life helped sustain African Americans in slavery.

As slavery continued to develop, and many countries, such as the emerging United States in the late 18th century, had slaves as a major part of their economic model. Then, especially in slave ships and markets, there was a process of dehumanization that made the white sailors disengage themselves from the misery and brutality they were inflicting on people. It could be argued that violence was a necessity from Europeans’ perspectives, to try to keep enslaved people from revolting, and disrupting the flow of wealth they had obtained from the cruelty of slavery. Their wealth, was dependent on the continuation of slavery, which was why this system was so brutal by nature. The people in