The beginning of African American slavery in America in 1619 deeply impacted the culture of African Americans. The overall experience that African American slaves encountered throughout their journey to freedom is a tragedy. As a whole, they were continuously disrespected and treated poorly by nearly all white people. Regardless of what type of slave or which geographical area the slave resided in, they were considered property and were never capable of being equal to whites. Nearly two and a half centuries later in 1865, slavery was abolished with passing of the 13th amendment. African American slaves may have been severely mistreated on a daily basis, but they were able to deal with the circumstances that were laid out in front of them by turning to religion and coming together as a family (House).
In conclusion, racism is a recently developed term, whereas slavery has been part of the history for hundreds of years. Europeans weren’t chosen as slaves not because of their race, but because they were in short supply and were less immune to native diseases. On the other hand, African slavery was the outcome of different economic factors, followed by series of historical events. Europeans opportunists and entrepreneurs saw “Africans” as the key to generate surplus wealth, and to establish modern capitalism. On top of that, historical events such as Trans-Atlantic slave trade, Bacon Rebellion also strengthened the position of Africans as potential slaves. In short, conditions developed from gradual technological, historical, and economic change in Africa, New World, and Great Britain led to the institution of African slavery.
European traders worked closely with African merchants to gain their human cargo. Where once they had traded textiles and alcohol for gold and ivory, Europeans now traded muskets, metalware, and linen for men, women, and children. Originally many of those sold into slavery were war captives. But by the time British and Anglo-American merchants became central to this notorious trade, their contacts in Africa were procuring labor in any way they could. The cargo included war captives, servants, and people snatched in raids specifically to secure slaves. Over time, African traders moved farther inland to fill the demand, devastating large areas of West Africa, particularly the Congo-Angola region, which supplied some 40 percent of all Atlantic slaves.
Throughout our history we are marked with atrocious crimes, but none worse than the horrendous act of slavery of other humans. So how was this possible? How could it have gone on for so long, and on such a scale? How did it affect the families of the time, economy and natural resources of the time? And how does it still effect the many nations today? A crime like this has no parallel in any part of human history. And in order to truly understand how this effects Africa and its many lost generations, one must know the past, and how it came to be so one can truly know how it affects the present.
The establishment of a trade system between Europe, Africa, and the Americas, better known as the Triangular Trade, allowed for an increase in slave labor in the Americas, and in turn sent raw materials and finished products to Europe and Africa, respectively. Although the American colonies had always had interaction with Europe, there was no interaction with Africa before this time, especially not between Africa and the colonies. However, when the need for increased slave labor arose, so did the need...
The seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries saw the emergence and eventual abolishment of one of the most detrimental enterprises in African history, the slave trade. The trans-Atlantic slave trade, born out of an inevitable economic push, radically changed society in African communities, particularly those of West Africa. The effects of the slave trade influenced nearly every aspect of life in Africa from the daily habits of people to the entire commercial and political system of the region. Simply put, the trans-Atlantic slave trade impacted African peoples socially, economically, and politically.
...ts of the Slave Trade on Africa." StudyMode. N.p., Feb. 2011. Web. 23 Jan. 2014. .
“Why were the countries with the most developed institutions of individual freedom also the leaders in establishing the most exploitive system the world has ever seen?” The book, The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas, written by David Eltis, seeks many different types of answers for this question and reviews the actions of slavery, exploring all of the issues that best describe the three decades of progress in the study of the Atlantic Slave Trade and in American slavery. Slavery was an accepted term in human society for many years and Eltis wanted to figure out why bigger and wealthier countries were creating these exploitive systems in the world. He unites the African, European, and American markets with their similar transportation expenses of
Before Europeans got involved, slavery was very prominent in Africa. Often, one ruler would own multiple tribes of hereditary slaves, who were seized in raids. Slaves were also used in the trans-Saharan trade, many of whom would go on to be in domestic service or concubinage in North Africa, Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire. Europeans joined this practice when they discovered its immense value. They exploited and redirected the traditional slave trade already in place, creating trading posts where they could purchase both materials and people from African slave owners.
Owners decided the best thing for them was to ship in slaves from Africa instead of the ones from Europe because they knew that the Africans wouldn’t be a problem and more likely to conform to their rules and regulations. They knew Africans couldn’t concoct a plan to come together and overthrow authority like the white slaves and indentured servants did. The Concept of race is a relatively recent development. Only in the past centuries, owing largely to European imperialism, have the worlds people been classified along racial lines (Alexander, p.23). Native Americans and African slaves were labeled as savages simply due to the fact they were different and lived a different life from the European culture. Following the abolishment of slavery, racial segregation would emerge and spread throughout the south. The plantation owners hoped to reestablish a system of control that would ensure a low paid, submissive labor force. Segregation begun years earlier in the north, as an effort to prevent race mixing but never developed into a comprehensive system such as they did to African Americans in the south
Throughout the first two centuries of American slave history, the notion of race emerged resulting from the practices and social exploitations which resonated across American lands. As Ira Berlin studied the development of slavery through the two centuries, Berlin concluded race was defined as a historical construct per each region of the United States. African-Americans endured different occupational, social, and religious exploitations—assisting in the eventual degradation of their identity. Although the exploitations of the African-American, African, and free-black community spread across America, sharp divisions amongst the regions truly defined race. Each region of the United States obtained different terrain, soil, market availability, demographic balance, and origins of slaves/slave owners. Race depended
Slavery has played a major role in the history of the United States. It has existed thoughout most of the human history and is still practiced in some parts of the world. Throughout history various legal, social, economic, and philosophical arguments typically involving prejudices of race, color, nationality, or religion were made to justify the slavery in the United States. The role of slavery in society attributed to the desperation and anger the slaves felt and lead them to strike against their owners in many occasions. Despite the threats and the unfair treatment, many people of color retaliated and firmly stood up for their rights as equal human beings. Slavery in America brought about a successful south but also proved to be one of the most terrible things done by humans to humans and is why slavery should not only be abolished for the benefits of African Americans but also for the
Though the Atlantic Slave Trade began in 1441, it wasn’t until nearly a century later that Europeans actually became interested in slave trading on the West African coast. “With no interest in conquering the interior, they concentrated their efforts to obtain human cargo along the West African coast. During the 1590s, the Dutch challenged the Portuguese monopoly to become the main slave trading nation (“Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade”, NA). Besides the trading of slaves, it was also during this time that political changes were being made. The Europe...
African Slavery was crucial to the America’s colonization. The buying and selling of these unfortunate people played a big role in how the americas work today. The need for cheap labor brought the african slaves to america leading to an influence of african culture on the north and south americas in the 14 through
The changes in African life during the slave trade era form an important element in the economic and technological development of Africa. Although the Atlantic slave trade had a negative effect on both the economy and technology, it is important to understand that slavery was not a new concept to Africa. In fact, internal slavery existed in Africa for many years. Slaves included war captives, the kidnapped, adulterers, and other criminals and outcasts. However, the number of persons held in slavery in Africa, was very small, since no economic or social system had developed for exploiting them (Manning 97). The new system-Atlantic slave trade-became quite different from the early African slavery. The influence of the Atlantic slave trade brought radical changes to the economy of Africa.